Red Velvet Icebox Cake

Ingredients:

Simple cheese cream

• 340 g of cream cheese at room temperature
• 0.5 cup powdered sugar
• Fine salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 24 - 28 red velvet cookies, recipe below
• 1 cup grated milk chocolate + 1 tbsp for sprinkling (100g bar)

Red Velvet Cookies

• 1 and 1/4 cups of premium flour + extra for working with the dough
• 1.5 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• Fine salt
• 90 g unsalted butter, softened
• 0.5 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1.5 tsp red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer) and beat on medium speed with the whisk attachment until fluffy. Add the sugar and a pinch of salt and beat until smooth. Add the cream and vanilla extract and beat until soft peaks form. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Line a 1.5-quart loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving at least a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Place 6 cookies, slightly overlapping, face down, in the bottom of the pan. Spread 3/4 cup whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Sprinkle 3 heaping tablespoons of chocolate on top. Repeat the layers two more times with 6-7 cookies. Place the last 6-7 cookies on top of the chocolate chips. Cover the cookies with the overhanging plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. To serve, unwrap the cake, invert it onto a serving plate, and peel off the wrap. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate shavings and serve immediately.
   
   

   Homemade Red Velvet Cookies

   
   Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl.
   
   In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar at medium speed using the paddle attachment until the sugar is completely incorporated. Beat in the egg yolk. Stir in the food coloring and vanilla extract until the mixture is evenly colored, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in the flour mixture. Beat just until all the flour is incorporated. Form the dough into two 2.5 cm thick disks, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper. Unroll one disk of dough, place it on the paper, and cover with a large piece of plastic wrap. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 0.3 cm. Remove the plastic wrap and, using a 6 cm round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough. Place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2.5 cm apart (about 12 cookies per baking sheet).
7. Gather the scraps, refrigerate the dough to set, and then roll and cut out the cookies again. Repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
8. Bake the cookies until they're brick-red and set, 8-10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Let them cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.