Red Velvet Cake

The cake that made me famous.  Wait a minute!  I'm not famous, but this is the cake that boosted my baking credibility among my co-workers and my overall confidence in the kitchen. 


I first made this cake in June of 2003.  I remember the date because I made it for Angela's birthday, and Valerie and I were living in an apartment at the time.  This is probably the first cake I made in that apartment, and most likely one of the only ones since we just spent a year there.  Ang wanted a red velvet cake and I found this recipe.  I didn't have 3 9 inch round cake pans, so I baked it in a 9x13 pan.  I had never made red velvet cake before, so I didn't know what to expect.  The cake was very good, even in a 9x13 pan, so I kept the recipe.


A few years passed, Valerie and I moved to a house on Main Street, and my office was throwing a party for a fellow co-worker.  I don't remember what the specific occasion was, but I offered to bring a dessert.  Since it was around Valentine's Day, I decided to make the red velvet cake.  My kitchen equipment stash had increased by this point and I was able to make the cake in 3 9 inch round cake pans.  It's was a bit intimidating for me to walk into my office holding a cake taker with a three tiered cake inside of it, but I walked into the break room, set it on the table and headed to my desk.


A few hours later, people started coming up to me to tell me how much they liked the cake.  Several people mentioned how they didn't normally like red velvet cake, but this cake was the best they ever had.  High praise for a humble cake, but if it passed with the work crowd, I knew I had a winner.


Over the years, I have made this cake for other office parties (some not even for my own office), birthdays (some that I wasn't even there for), and even holiday open houses.  The cake is always met with rave reviews.


Since I normally make this cake for someone else or take it to an event, I didn't really ever have the opportunity to take a picture of it for latent chestnut.  I normally ice the whole cake and put crushed pecans on the side, so a picture of a whole iced cake wouldn't really do justice to the beautiful red cake on the inside.  Though, I did manage to snap a picture of one before I iced the sides.


For the holiday open house at Ole Rusty Nail, I was given the freedom to make whatever I wanted.  I thought red velvet cake would be a perfect visual for the Christmas atmosphere.  Since I didn't want to make a three tiered cake for the event, I decided to make mini-muffins with the batter.  I didn't know what to expect since I had never done it before, but the results were absolutely delicious and were just was I was going for, visually.  So, I topped some with sprinkles and some with a pecan, and I finally had my photo opportunity with this cake!


So enough about how much people like the cake, is it easy to make?  The answer is, yes!  The batter really comes together very easily.  I normally have most of the ingredients on hand, except for the 1 ounce of red food coloring, which is a lot.  I also can't stress enough how important it is to chill the cream cheese frosting before icing the cake.  It is somewhat loose when it's done mixing, so it would just ooze out of the layers when icing the cake if it's not chilled.  Unfortunately, I know this from experience.  It might be a good idea to make the icing before making the cake, so it can be chilled when the cakes are cool.


This cake really is delicious.  It does have a unique flavor, that I really can't describe.  It is light, moist, and the buttermilk and vinegar add a nice subtle tang.  There is also just enough cocoa to get a hint of chocolate, without it overwhelming the other flavors.  Overall, the cake isn't too sweet and the cream cheese frosting is a smooth and rich compliment to lightness of the cake.  The garnish of the pecans take it over the top with a nice nutty crunch.  The only left to say is, make this cake!


Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients
For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
2 large eggs, (room temperature)
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crushed pecans, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour 3 9 by 1 1/2-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed. Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared cake pans.

Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart on two oven racks. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake begins to pull away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean; rotate the pans after 15 minutes of baking. 

Remove the cakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack. When cool enough to handle, remove the cakes from the pans and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.


Frost the cake. Place 1 layer in the middle of a cake stand. Using an offset spatula, spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. Frosting layer should be 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Set another layer on top, and repeat. Top with the final layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top or sides with the pecans.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until well incorporated with no lumps.  Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Once smooth, add the vanilla, increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Important: Place in the refrigerator until somewhat firm before using.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 

My great-grandmother made pineapple upside-down cake all the time when I was a kid, and I absolutely loved it. I loved it so much, it is one of the first recipes I tried when I was first learning how to bake. It was not an easy one to start out with, though. I remember countless times flipping the cake only to find that some of the cake stuck to the pan, or the brown sugar/butter mixture didn't absorb into the cake and ran all over the counter top. I still ate it, and I'm sure I gained a few pounds in the process.

Thinking back on it now, I'm not sure my great-grandmother turned the whole cake upside-down before serving it. I remember the cake staying in the pan, with her flipping the individual pieces over as they were served. I was always anxious to see how much pineapple I got, or if I was lucky to get a cherry. I did a write-up on my great-grandmother's recipe over on Family Tree-Eats if you'd like to check it out, but this is the Alton Brown version I went to after failing on hers so many times.

The recipes are pretty similar, except this one uses cornmeal and is baked in a cast iron skillet.  Baking a cake in a cast iron skillet!?  That's what I'm talking about! The finished product is perfectly crispy around the edges and moist and fluffy on the inside.  The cake is sweet, but the pineapple helps cut the sweetness considerably.  The original calls for nuts, but I omitted them because my great-grandmother never used nuts in hers.  The cake is very rich, so a little bit goes a long way, but it is absolutely delicious!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
4 ounces unsalted butter
8 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1 cup
6 slices canned pineapple in heavy syrup
6 maraschino cherries
3 tablespoons juice from canned pineapple
3 whole eggs
4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 3/4 ounces sugar, approximately 3/4 cup
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil, turn off the heat, and immediately add the cornmeal. Stir and let stand for 30 minutes. 

Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar to the butter and stir until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Place one slice of pineapple in the center of the pan and arrange the other 5 slices around it. Put the cherries in the centers of the pineapple.  Pour pineapple juice over top.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. In another mixing bowl, add the sugar to the eggs and whisk to combine; then add the canola oil and whisk. Add the cornmeal and milk mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Add the wet mixture to the flour and gently stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. After removing it from oven, let the cake cool for 30 minutes before inverting. Set a plate on top of the skillet and carefully flip the cake.

Slice and devour. 

Mississippi Mud Cake

It's hard to top chocolate cake.  Unless it's topped fresh from the oven with marshmallows, warm chocolate frosting, and toasted pecans.  This dessert, when served warm, has quickly become one of my favorites. 

I stumbled upon this recipe by accident.  I was looking for a recipe for Mississippi Mud Pie and I couldn't decide on what one to use.  Every recipe I found was drastically different from the next, and none of them sounded particularly good.  Most of them also called for pudding mix or whipped topping; which weren't ingredients I wanted to use.  Plus, having never eaten Mississippi Mud Pie, I didn't know which recipe was traditional or authentic. 

I went to the Food Network site to look for a recipe, and when I was typing in the search field, "Mississippi Mud Cake" was a suggested search option.  I looked through the cake recipes and decided to go with Emeril's rendition.  Bam!

This cake is best served warm.  The cake is moist, dense, rich, and not too sweet; and it goes nicely with the soft, warm, gooey sweetness of the marshmallows.  The liquid hot chocolate frosting also contributes to the gooey meltiness.  The subtle crunch and flavor of the toasted nuts is the perfect way to finish the cake. 


Mississippi Mud Cake
Recipe inspired by Emeril Lagasse
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces mini marshmallows

For the frosting:
4 ounces unsalted butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
16 ounces confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts), lightly toasted

Directions
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 by 13-inch pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the cocoa and water.  Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the cocoa mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Next, add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake passes the toothpick test.

Transfer to a wire rack and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over the hot cake.

For the frosting:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the cocoa powder and buttermilk.  Bring the mixture to a boil. Then, remove from the heat and add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix until smooth.

Immediately pour the icing over the marshmallows on the cake and sprinkle with nuts. Let the cake cool to lukewarm before serving.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting

Curious, yet tasty, this Alton Brown application is sure to please.  Lemony, sweet, creamy, and green, it is unlike any frosting I have ever made, and it would surely make Dr. Seuss proud.  I made this frosting to go on a cake I took to my mom's Super Bowl party, thinking it would be a fun way to use avocados in a less traditional way.  The Hass Avocado Board stated that 53.5 million pounds of avocados were eaten on Super Bowl Sunday; I doubt many pounds were eaten as frosting.  So, I was happy to contribute my 8 ounces.

The first time I met Alton was on June 4, 2005 at the Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis.  During the live demonstration, he was showcasing different ways to use avocados.  I was so far away, I couldn't really see him or hear what he was saying.  On November 2, 2005, "Curious Yet Tasty Avocado Experiment" aired and I was finally able to see what AB was doing with those avocados.  Being an avocado lover, I had to give the recipes a try.  My favorite recipe from the avocado experiments is the avocado buttercream frosting.  It not only looks cool, it tastes pretty good, too. 


Avocado Buttercream Frosting
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
•8 ounces avocado meat, approximately 2 small to medium
•2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
•1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
•1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions
Peel and pit the avocado. Place the avocado into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment along with the lemon juice and beat until lightened in color, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat until smooth. Add the lemon extract and mix to combine. If not using right away, store in the refrigerator.