Happy Birthday in Red Velvet

A deliciously sweet way to say Happy Birthday: luscious red velvet with Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. I hope Nana had a wonderful day.

Valentine's Day Gifts for my Friends

This year at the suggestion of a friend, I decided to box up some of my yummy cake truffles in the spirit of Valentine's Day.  It was so nice to see them all lined up and ready to make someone's day a little sweeter. I think I'll be doing another batch of cake truffles for my 'friends' around Easter time.  Now to think of the perfect springtime flavors... any suggestions?

Arizona Sugar Arts Show, Feb 6, 2010

A month ago I decided to check out the world of competitive sugar arts (yes, it really does exist, but I know that with cable cake show you probably knew that).  It was the Arizona show in Glendale.  While I didn't place in my division, I did receive some very high marks on my cakes (98/100 with one judge).  It's obvious that these decorators spend weeks creating their sugar sculptures (no real cake here, folks. Mostly all dummies under that frosting), so if i decide to try again I'll know to start much earlier to create the level of detail that is needed to bring home a medal. 

I did two cakes. A tiered and a single layer. This tiered cake was covered in fondant and had gumpaste picados and flowers. I sculpted the bride and groom from gumpaste and fondant, painting with color. 

The single layer cake was very lovely, but just not intricate enough for competition. 

Who knows if I'll do it again, but the experience was fun. 

Cake Truffles, gourmet editions

I think that Cake Truffles are the perfect, small indulgence. It is said that the greatest pleasure on the tongue comes from the first couple of bites; and with the right cake truffle, that really is all you need. Moist cake, perfectly smooched with buttercream frosting then dipped in chocolate. But I like to take it a step further with unexpected flavor combinations that make each two-bite treat, a truly remarkable little journey for the mouth.  Some of my favorite flavors include:

Dark chocolate with caramel bits, dipped in dark chocolate then finished with a sprinkle of pink Himalayan  sea salt. (shown at right in foreground)

Mexican chocolate chile dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with Chimayo Holy Red Chile. (also shown at right in the rear of the tray)

Perfect Breakfast: Maple cake truffle center dipped in dark chocolate then topped with crispy applewood smoked bacon. (not sure? think of taking a bite of chocolate chip pancake drizzled in maple syrup with a bite of bacon as a chaser. You there? uh huh....)

Red Velvet Magic: the velvety rich Red Velvet truffle center encases a pearl of sweet cream cheese frosting before a dip in white chocolate.

What to do with a bottle of Heavy Whipping Cream?

Make cake, of course!   This is the Whipped Cream Cake from Melissa Gray's All Cakes Considered  which is credited to The American Woman's Cook Book, a popular cookbook with the great grandmother set when they were settling in to family cooking.  I decided on this cake because I had a big bottle of heavy whipping cream in the fridge that needed using before it turned into some other form on the spoiled dairy chain (and I'm not adventurous enough to make my own sour cream, et al.) It is a light, delicate vanilla cake; moist and perfect with a cup of coffee. I think anything more than a milk chocolate or light vanilla frosting would be overpowering. Fruit would also make a nice addition.

The frosting and filling is a Ghirardelli milk chocolate ganache (and that used up the bottle of cream, thankyouverymuch!). The darker glaze is the ganache straight out of the pan (cooled slightly) and the lighter is the same ganache but chilled and whipped in the mixer. I have some work to do with the ganache technique; there were quite a few air bubbles even after putting it through a fine strainer four times. And I believe my proportions of chocolate to cream were off as well. This was 1:1, with a panicky extra handful of chips thrown in when it started to look too thin.  Next time I make a glaze, I will do 1:2 with more chocolate.

Red Velvet

Red Velvet Cake cut into four layers with Swiss meringue buttercream on the inside and out. I wish I had a good picture of the inside of the cake--even I don't know how it turned out--as it was gifted to a lucky coworker in my husband's office. Then we could talk about the vibrant red and how the mild, light cocoa taste really doesn't stand up to such a bold color. 

There are a few theories on how the color came to be through the long history of this cake (recipes have been found from the 1890's). Cocoa powder contains vegetable pigments that are red only in the presence of acids. So some say that the red cake originally resulted from a reaction that occurred when the acidic buttermilk and vinegar were mixed with the cocoa. This theory works if you use a non-alkalized cocoa, such as Hershey’s (slightly acidic with a pH around 5), not a “Dutch Processed” cocoa (slightly alkaline with a pH around 8). In a contrary theory, others say the red color results from a reaction of the cocoa and the baking soda, which is slightly alkaline (pH around 8), not acidic. Devil's Food cake is also thought to have been named in reaction to the reddish hue from this cocoa chemical transformation. It is also supposed that during war times when items were rationed, red food coloring or beet juice was added to a mild chocolate cake to give a fancy appearance.

The Red Velvet Cake has become more popular in recent years, and one of the most copied recipes is of Cake Man Raven, which thanks to the oil produces a very velvety, moist cake with an eye-popping electric red color.  I personally prefer a Red Velvet that tastes a bit more chocolaty and with a traditional, but in my opinion underused, Roux Buttercream.  I chose to make this one with Swiss Meringue because I wanted to try out that recipe again, and not have it around the house because one of my little ones is very allergic to the eggs in it.  The Swiss buttercream is heavy on the butter so i like to add a cup of powered sugar at the end to sweeten it up a bit. It is the most luxurious frosting, but the silky and non-crusting finish means that it require a bit more finesse to decorate with. The commercial choice with Red Velvet is a cream cheese icing, which is nice but I still think can be too sweet if not mixed half with butter.  

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

This beauty is all Southern: rich brown sugar, sweet pecans, cream cheese frosting.  A heavy crumb that is pure pound cake through and through. If Red Velvet cake is Tennessee Williams, then this Brown Sugar Pound Cake is Flannery O’Connor. Not so much a Misfit as it sat pristine upon the cake stand, but I wouldn’t have been surprised to spy a salesman drive by with a prosthetic leg in his backseat after I took the third bite. 

Recipe was another from All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray.