Our Red Velvet Cake is made in many stages. To begin I start with a baked red velvet sponge, and cut a disc using a metal cylindrical mould, I then brush the sponge with simple syrup combined with a raspberry liqueur.
I then place a small hemisphere of frozen raspberry puree on top of the sponge (when the cake defrosts, this will turn to liquid inside the cake, providing a sauce with a much needed acidity to cut through the mousse.) I then fill the mould with a white chocolate mousse. It is then frozen. I remove the mould with a blowtorch and smooth out any holes or rough edges using a hot palette knife.
This is important as any imperfections in the look now, will not be covered by the spray. The cake is placed back in the freezer. I then combine a 50/50 mix of white chocolate pistoles and chopped cocoa butter in a Vac-pac bag and seal fully, I repeat this a second time to make the chocolate doubly secure, and place the bag in a 48C waterbath for around an hour, until the chocolate is smooth and combined with the cocoa butter.
During this wait I setup my section for spraying. The spray is brutal and incredibly annoying to clean, I spend a good amount of tape, cling film and bin bags to cover the entire section while I spray. Bin bags open out and cover the floor, and higher up to contain the spray in one area. Cling film is layered over anywhere that might get hit while spraying. It takes a while to setup, but makes cleandown a breeze. I also wear a full disposable boiler suit coverall while spraying - having your jacket covered in a haze of red chocolate for service just wouldn't do.
The bag is removed from the bath an carefully dried off, then opened and poured into a container, where I then add Liquid red food colour until i like the shade. working quickly, so the temperature of the chocolate does not drop too far, i give it a final blend with a hand blender, to fully emulsify. I then pour the chocolate into a Wagner W140P Paint Spray Gun, much more affordable than dedicated chocolate guns, and I haven't had one fail on me yet.
I remove the cake from the freezer and place it on the station, and I begin to spray, as the chocolate mix hits the frozen mousse it freezes instantly, and gives the desired effect, I slowly rotate the cake and spray the sides first, the angle of the spray will normally take care of the top all by itself. I then examine the cake and decide if it requires more spray. It is a delicate process, but quick to learn. The cake can now be placed back in the freezer, or defrosted.
Once defrosted, I take the cake and place it in the centre of the bowl, I run a crumble of Caramelised Pecans around the base and top the cake with a roche' of Cheesecake Ice Cream. The dish riffs on the traditional cake by incorporating the traditional aspects (such as the pecans and cream cheese) and presenting them in a way the guest is not expecting.
Many thanks for reading and any questions can be directed to me on twitter, more than happy to help:
@baillie_iain
A big thank you from Andrew and myself, Iain. Some dish. Be great to have you back at some point!
