Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake:

• 2½ cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two – 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1½  (360 ml) cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 – 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 – 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (115 grams) confectioners’ (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted 

In your food processor, or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages. If the frosting is not thick enough to spread, cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour, or until it is firm enough to spread.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting.  Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut

The Comeback Cake

I bet you guys thought you’d never hear from me again. Well, I’m happy to say that this time you were sorely mistaken.  Just like every bloodthirsty supernatural villain in every horror movie ever made, I’m back for another go-round and this time I mean business (don’t worry, I’m not going to go all Freddy vs Jason on you; Julie & Julia is more my style).

I seriously considered abandoning this project all together.  I mean, I did technically fail after all.  But when I went home this past week to bid my Grandma one final farewell, I swear that I met at least half of my 239 loyal readers (oddly enough, you’re almost all related to me in one way or another–coming from a good Catholic family really has its benefits sometimes).  Now that I’ve put faces with the numbers, I can’t just give up.  I’ve been guilted into continuing my bakelogging (again, coming from a good Catholic family has its benefits).

I decided to make my grand re-entrance into the blogosphere in style–no humble drop cookie could possibly do for such a fancy occasion–I needed to bake something with style, flair, and the ability to make a dent in the 5 pound sack of carrots in the bottom of my fridge.  

Behold, loyal readers (the eight of you that are still left, anyway), my comeback cake:

The Comeback Cake

This thing is loaded up with a kajillion pecans, even more shredded carrots, two ultra-thick layers of super-moist crumbly, cinnamony cake, white-chocolate cream cheese frosting, and eight handmade (by me!!) marzipan carrot decorations (that’s right, naysayers and trash-talkers, I do have a few decorating tricks up my sleeve after all. Granted marzipan is easier to work with than play-dough, but I’m still thoroughly impressed with myself–I’ve never worked with marzipan before).

Carrots? No, but there are quite a few underneath the frosting.

Carrot Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake: 

• unsalted butter for greasing
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated carrots, room temperature (honestly, everything needs to be at room temperature for this to work properly.  Set your mis en place, walk away for half an hour (coffee anyone?), and come back to ingredients that are ready and wiling to be used).
• a few handfuls of toasted chopped pecans (I think I used a cup and half total, one cup for inside the cake, and the extra half a cup for decorating)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease 2 8 inch round cake pans.  Line pans with parchment paper.  Regrease and flour.  Set aside.
2. Sift the sugar and salt into a bowl; set aside.
3. In another bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder together.  Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, whip the eggs on medium speed, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until thick, about 3 minutes.  Increase the speed to high and continue whipping until the eggs fall in thick ribbons off the whisk, 4 minutes.  Gradually add the oil while continuing to whip until well-blended.
5. Decrease the speed to medium.  Add the sifted sugar mixture slowly to the whipped egg mixture while continuing to whip until blended.
6. Decrease  the speed to low.  Add the sifted flour mixture  slowly to the egg mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Fold in the carrots and about a cup of the pecans by hand with a rubber spatula.
7. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Begin testing at 35 minutes.  Do not over-bake.
8. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for a few minutes before turning out cakes onto wire racks, tops down. Cool completely before icing and slicing. 

Frosting:

• 8 oz white chocolate
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces (if you use chips you can skip this step!). Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water.  Cool to room temperature.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed to blend evenly.
3. Add in the cooled melted chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt; continue to mix until very smooth, 1-2 minutes.
4. Use immediately.  Alternately, transfer icing to an airtight storage container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  Bring icing to room temperature, then re-whip using the paddle attachment before using.  Makes enough to fill and frost one layer cake.