Red Velvet Cake

What is the deal with Red Velvet? 



Does everyone love it because it is red? Because of the cream cheese frosting? Which, by the way, I heard is not true to the original recipe.  
What is it that draws people to this cake? If you are one of those that love this cake, please leave a comment and let me know. Yes, it is delicious, but I seriously want to hear your thoughts.


I have tried numerous recipes, all of which were so-so. Nothing that really stops traffic.
I live in the south now so I really need a great Red Velvet recipe. It's requested quite a bit.


I usually dislike making it because it has so many little steps... make a cocoa/red dye paste, make a vinegar and baking soda fizz... really... is all that necessary. I aimed to find out.


I went to the Queen of Southern cooking, Paula Deen. On FoodNetwork.com she has her cousin, Johnnie Gabriel's recipe listed. It looked different and has received rave reviews so I thought I would give it a try.


Wow! So much easier to make and sinfully delicious. That is exactly what my friend said when she took a bite. This is officially my go-to recipe now!


Let's talk about it shall we.

You will need:

(slightly adapted from here)

RED VELVET CAKE

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (recommended: White Lily)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cocoa (could probably use a little more)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 cup butter 
2 (8-ounce) package cream cheese 
1 1/2 -2 boxes confectioners' sugar, sifted 

(just depends how sweet you want it)1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) round layer cake pans.

Sift flour, baking soda and coco together.

Next time I will try a bit more cocoa, maybe 1-2 Tbls. 

1 tsp. just didn't seem like enough.

Beat sugar and eggs together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together oil (next time I may use a litte butter as well here, about 1/4 cup), vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla. Yes, I know, there is nothing pretty about this photo.

But very important to note, this is nothing like the usual recipes I have used. Usually you make a paste with the dye and cocoa. Usually you make a fizz with the soda and vinegar. But not here, and I love that. 

Seriously, so much easier and the cake is super yummy.

Ok moving on...

Add the oil mixture to the bowl of eggs and sugar

and beat until combined.

Another not so pretty photo, but you get it.

Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet mixture by alternating the buttermilk and dry ingredients. Always start with the flour and end with the flour.

And yes, I always use White Lily if you can find it near you.

Pour batter into pans. Tap them on the table to level out the batter and release air bubbles. This is important because as you see in the photo the batter was quite bubbly. The bubbles didn't completely go away, but I tapped it a few times to release most of them. 

Bake for about 25 minutes

or until a cake tester inserted near the middle comes out clean. 

Be careful not to over bake or you'll end up with a dry cake.


Let layers cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out of pan. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Let butter and cream cheese soften to room temperature. Cream well.

Add sugar and beat until mixed but not so much that the frosting becomes "loose". I had never heard that term before, but makes so much sense and probably why my frosting gets too gooey sometimes.  

Add vanilla. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do apologize for not getting a better picture of the finished cake. I went into cake making/decoarating mode and didn't get a picture until it was cut. Then I got so busy cutting and everyone got busy eating that I didn't get a better picture.

I did make some taste tester cupcakes though, so I will share those photos so you can see how they bake up and look. They actually made cute dome cupcakes and had such a pretty color.

The most important aspect is the taste. These were Delicious! 
I didn't miss those tedious steps and they were just as good if not better than any Red Velvet I have tried.



I definitely recommend trying this one.
I promise I will make it again with my minor modifications and come back and update this post.




Baking from my heart to your kitchen,

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Two-tone cake

Recently I was in search of a unique cake to make a friend of mine for her birthday.  I love when I get to be creative. I searched some of my favorite "idea" sites and came across some cakes made by Aldoska, you can see her gallery here. I fell in love with her cakes. I had to try a version of my own.
I adore how sweet this cake looked and my friend was thrilled with it.

I will show you what I did.

Aw... so pretty.
First you will need to make a cake and frost it.
You will also need to make some marshmallow fondant. You can color it any color, but I obviously used red and pink. Just a side note, if your pink is too pink, like bubblegum pink, you can add a touch of ivory and it will mute it a bit. Best Trick Ever! Adding ivory to any color will mute it a bit.

Cover the whole cake white.

Then cut out half pink and cover. I swerved it a bit for effect, but you don't have to. Then cut out a few strips of red to line down the middle and around the bottom.

Ok, so I got carried away decorating that I didn't take any more picture of the swirl and flower making, but this is where you get creative and make it your own. If you need more help with the swirls or flowers just let me know and I will do them again with pictures.

Here is the other side. To make the smaller dots I used the top of one my larger piping tips, works like a charm. I hope you enjoyed looking at this cake as much as I enjoyed making it!


Baking from my heart to your kitchen,

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