This red velvet cake was inspired by that dreamy cake aesthetic that I’ve captured in the past with some of my other 6-inch cakes, like the hummingbird or scarecrow ones. There is just something very fun and satisfying on making a smaller 2-layer cake, and playing around with flavors, colors, and textures off of a very basic canvas. In this case, with red velvet, I think about what works with chocolate. Since red velvet is essentially a lightly cocoa-flavored cake with red food coloring, it’s a safe bet to pair anything that works with chocolate with red velvet. In this case, to be in line with Valentine’s, I went with raspberries and pink peppercorn. Raspberry red velvet is nothing new to me – I’ve probably done at least four or five versions of that flavor pairing. But adding pink peppercorns was a bit of a newer touch. Pink peppercorns, unlike your typical black peppercorns, are sweet, floral, and just a tiny bit spicy. They are perfect to pair with dairy products or desserts for that reason, because they add a pleasant lift to contrast richer or sweeter flavors. In the case of this recipe, I went with a two layer red velvet cake, a tonka bean cream cheese ganache, swirled with a raspberry-pink peppercorn coulis, and shards of Raspberry Inspiration and pink peppercorn to finish. To be a little fancier, I used tonka bean in the cream cheese mixture, because it has notes of almond, cocoa, vanilla, and cherry, all things that compliment the other ingredients already being used in this recipe, and continuing that trend of taking my typical raspberry red velvet into a different direction. All in all, this was a relatively quick recipe(maybe 60 minutes from start to finish) to make, and the end result was this adorable, dreamy red velvet cake!

For the cake batter:
1 egg white
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tbsp red food coloring
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a bowl, whisk together the egg white, baking soda, vinegar, granulated sugar, and salt until soft peaks form. In another bowl, whisk everything else together until combined. Fold the egg whites through the other ingredients to form your cake batter.

Divvy up your batter between two 6-inch cake molds that were lined with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool before attempting to unmold.

For the tonka bean-cream cheese ganache:
4oz white chocolate
8oz cream cheese
.5g grated tonka bean
a pinch of salt
3oz heavy cream, whipped stiff

Over a double boiler, start by melting the white chocolate completely. Add to that the cream cheese, tonka, and salt, and stir until combined. Then take off heat and beat until soft and spreadable before folding in the heavy cream to finish. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow the ganache to firm before using.

For the raspberry-pink peppercorn coulis:
1 pint fresh raspberries
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp pink peppercorns, ground finely

In a pot, bring everything to a boil, reducing the liquid by half and allow the berries to fully break down. Pass through a sieve to remove any seeds and allow the coulis to fully cool down before attempting to use.

For garnish:
2oz Raspberry Inspiration, chopped finely
Pink peppercorns

Over a double boiler, melt down roughly 1 1/2 oz of the Raspberry Inspiration. Once the Raspberry Inspiration registers to 110 degrees F, take off heat and stir in the rest, allowing it to come down to to 89 degrees F before spreading onto acetate. Allow the chocolate to set in the refrigerator before breaking into smaller pieces.

To assemble the cake, start with one round of the red velvet and spread on half of the cream cheese ganache. Swirl into that half of the coulis. Repeat these steps for the second layer, and garnish with pink peppercorns and shards of the Raspberry Inspiration to finish.