THE GOODS from The Lazy Gourmet

Vancouver, BC | Just in time for Valentine’s Day, The Lazy Gourmet’s Pastry Chef Rebecca Rancier shares an elegant red-and-white dessert recipe designed to woo…

Red Velvet Cheesecake Mini Cakes

Makes 12 individual cakes.

Preheat oven to 350*F.

4 sheet pans (8” x 12”) – sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper

Red Velvet Cake Layers
2 2/3 cups White Sugar
4 ¼ cups Pastry or Cake Flour
2 ½ Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
5 whole Eggs
1 ¾ cups Buttermilk
1 Tbsp Vanilla
Red Food Colouring

1.In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together to evenly combine.
2.With a mixer (hand held or stand), add in butter in 1” chunks and mix until sandy in texture.
3.Add in half of the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until evenly combined. Make sure to scrap down bowl a few times.
4.Add in the last half of buttermilk and red food colouring. Add food colouring until desired colour is reached.
5.Spread over 2 of your prepared sheet pans and bake at 350*, for roughly 15-20 minutes. Poke with a toothpick, if it comes out clean your cake is done.
6.Let sit to the side to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer to the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

Cheesecake Layers
1 ½ lbs Cream cheese icing
¾ cup White Sugar
¾ tsp Vanilla
3 whole Eggs

1.In a bowl, cream sugar and cream cheese together, until smooth and lightened. Scrape bottom of the bowl a few times while mixing.
2.Add in vanilla. Continue to mix to combine and scrape bottom of the bowl.
3.Add in eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl, between each egg.
4.Pour over 1 prepared pan.
5.Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes, or until just slightly jiggly in centre.
6.Remove from oven and set to the side to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer to fridge to chill for 2 hours.

Crunch Layers
1 1/3 cups White Chocolate
150 g Pailleté Feuilletine

1.Melt white chocolate chips.
2.In a bowl combine melted chocolate with pailleté feuilletine. Mix until evenly coated and spread over last prepared sheet pan.
3.Let sit at room temperature until set.

Vanilla Buttercream
1 cup Unsalted Butter
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

1.Using a mixer (hand held or stand), cream together butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.
2.Scraping down the bowl a few times, continue to beat together until the colour lightens and your icing is light and fluffy.
3.Set to the side. If you have a piping bag, fill 1 bag with your icing.

Assembly

1.Using a 2.5” circle cutter. Cut circles out of your cake, cheesecake and crunch layers. You should end up with 24 red velvet circles, 12 cheesecake circles and 12 crunch layer circles.
2.Take 12 of your red velvet layers to start with and lay out in front of you.
3.Add 1 crunch layer to each stack. Followed by 1 cheesecake layer to each stack. Finish with a second red velvet layer to each stack.
4.Top each individual cake with buttercream and decorate with your favourite Valentine’s Day decorations.

Store cake in the fridge if eating at a later time. Bring your cakes out and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating.

About The Lazy Gourmet | Founded in 1979 by Susan Mendelson, The Lazy Gourmet is one of Vancouver’s first catering companies. It specializes in truly contagious hospitality while showcasing the finest local ingredients and outstanding quality our region has to offer. Services encompass everything from morning baking, event planning, to fully produced sit down dinners for 800 and more. For more information about The Lazy Gourmet, please visit www.lazygourmet.ca.

The Lazy Gourmet

Neighbourhood: Kitsilano

1605 W 5th Ave.

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