Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

Don't forget about the giveaway! See previous post for details! Entries must by submitted by June 15!

You know how running is cool these days? Like, really cool? And it's cool to show people you are a runner? Like, with mileage stickers on your car? And to encourage other people to run too? Because running is cool?

Wait, I mean, running is healthy.

Let me just make it clear that I do not have a problem with people who like to run. More power to you. I just don't necessarily love how people can give off the impression that those who don't like to run are somehow inferior to those who do.

Allow me to tell an allegorical dialog:

Me: Oh my gosh, I have been working hard on playing Dvořák's Romance in F Minor for violin. It is so amazing! I love it.

You: Hey, that's cool.

Me: Yes! It is so great. You should try it! You can come over and we can play it together!

You: Um, I don't play the violin.

Me: That's okay! I'll help you! It's always better with a buddy.

You: Thanks, but music's not really my thing.

Me: Oh, but you should! There's so much research that shows the benefit of classical music on your mental, even physical health! You should totally do it! It's hard at first, but soon you'll be playing beautifully!

You: I really don't think so. I played in middle school, but I was terrible, so...

Me: It's never too late! It'll only be harder the older you get! It's so amazing! Dvořák!

You: Thanks, but I'm not going to. Have fun practicing, though!

Me: Okay...if that's really how you feel...I guess...

<end scene>

Doesn't that seem ridiculous? Why would a violinist try to force their hobby on someone who doesn't play, doesn't want to play? Yet somehow this conversation is okay between runners and non-runners. 

I'm sounding kind of snarky. Again, if you love to run, please run! Run like the wind! But allow me to sit around, not running, with no shame, please. I'm just a non-conformist like that. Also, terrible at running.

And I guess that's sort of how I felt about red velvet cake. It has been, like, all the rage, though I wasn't sure why. It's sort of a mild, barely chocolate cake with a lot of artificial color. Never something to get excited about.

UNTIL NOW!

I actually did enjoy this cake, despite my previous ambivalence toward it. It was perhaps chocolaty-er than most, and the cinnamon buttercream added a nice, unexpected layer of flavor. The frosting looked a little curdly, for some reason; not sure what I did wrong. But I don't think the flavor was affected. And, though I am by no means great at cake assembly, it came together much better than the Sweet and Salty Cake. So I'm just going to assume I'm getting better and better! 

Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.
Ingredients

For the red hot velvet cake layers:

• 1/4 c dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp* red gel food coloring
• 1/4 c boiling water
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces
• 2 Tbsp vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 c sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 c cake flour
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
  For the Cinnamon Frosting
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 c flour
• 1 1/2 c milk
• 1/4 c heavy cream
• 1 1/2 c (3 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• red hots for decoration

Cooking Directions

1. Make the red hot velvet cake layers: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, food coloring, and boiling water. Set aside to cool.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Stir the buttermilk and vanilla into the cooled cocoa mixture.
5. Sift the flour and salt together into another medium bowl. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, to the egg mixture in three separate additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until incorporated.
6. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda and stir until the baking soda dissolves; the mixture will fizz. Add to the batter and stir until just combined.
7. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake until cake tests done, about 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack, remove the pans, and let cool completely. Remove the parchment.
8. Make the cinnamon frosting: In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 20 minutes.
9. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachent. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter; beat until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
10. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is too firm, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.
11. Assemble the cake: Place one cooled cake layer on a serving platter. Trim the top to create a flat surface and evenly spread about a 1 1/4 cups of the frosting on top. Top with the next layer, trim and frost the top, then add the third layer. Crumb coat the cake and put the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up the frosting. Frost the sides and top with the remaining frosting. Garnish the cake with the red hots and refrigerate again for 15 minutes.

*I probably used 1 tsp of Wilton's gel food coloring, and the cake was plenty red. Maybe they meant 2 Tbsp liquid? Use your food coloring with discretion. 

Vanilla Bean Affogato

I've been sitting on this post for a while because I haven't quite figured out how to present it. Which is funny because this is barely even a recipe. It only has three ingredients, and one of them is ice cream. One of them is vanilla bean. And one of them is espresso. And it's the espresso that has caused me so much consternation.

"But how can espresso cause consternation?" you ask.

Though I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the three of you who read this blog are LDS and already know the answer to this question, just in case anyone wandered into this blog and doesn't know what I'm talking about, I will elaborate:

As a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I follow the health and dietary guidelines that we recognize as one of God's commandments, the Word of Wisdom. More information can be found by following this link and looking under "Word of Wisdom," about 2/3 of the way down:

God's Commandments | Mormon.org

Part of the Word of Wisdom states that we should not drink alcohol, coffee, or tea. Hence, espresso consternation. 

And while avoiding alcohol, coffee, or tea is almost never more difficult than just saying, "no thanks," there is an entire chapter of Baked that my Word of Wisdom restrictions rendered useless. Of the nine drinks included in the chapter, eight of them have alcohol, coffee, tea, or a combination. 

Blah, blah, blah. 

I'm tired of talking, so here's my point:

Rather than completely ignoring an entire chapter, I have decided to adapt the recipes in a Word-of-Wisdom-friendly way. 

As such, I have been trying to come with a pithy, clever way to label my modified recipes as Mormon kosher. My best idea so far is WoWed. As in Word of Wisdom, eh? Eh? I like that it's simple and to-the-point, but it feels kind of lame. Joel suggested Counterfit, since getting rid of the coffee and alcohol is a healthier option. I think my husband is a funny, witty fellow, but this wasn't doing much for me since a baked goods blog isn't really about being fit in any way. 

That's all we got. 

So, a GIVEAWAY!

Comment on this post with your own clever way to label these adjusted recipes, or just vote for which of Joel or my ideas you like better (Joel: Counterfit, Ami: WoWed), and you will be entered to win one of these babies:

Official Baked NYC box mix! The deliciousness of the Baked Bakery in your own home! With minimal effort! And you can choose from several different options--check them all out here. I'll even let you choose which one you want, though it will be subject to availability. 

Full disclosure: no one is sponsoring this giveaway except me. Also, none of the box mixes are of recipes included in the book, except for the Sour Cream Coffee Cake and the Deep Dark Chocolate Brownie. 

Now, on to the recipe. The affogato was a lovely, simple dessert. I want some right now. I will include the printed recipe and then my adjusted recipe separately. 

Vanilla Bean Affogato (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission. Ingredients 1 pint premium vanilla ice cream 1 vanilla bean 1/2 c freshly brewed hot espresso Directions Divide the ice cream among three bowls or glasses. Put them back in the freezer while you prep the espresso. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and, using the tip of the knife, scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the hot espresso. Stir gently. Slowly pour the espresso mixture over the ice cream. Serve immediately. Vanilla Bean Affogato-adjusted (printable recipe) adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  Ingredients 1 pint premium vanilla ice cream 1 vanilla bean 1/2 c very hot water 2 heaping tsp Pero Instant Natural Beverage Directions Divide the ice cream among three bowls or glasses. Put them back in the freezer while you prep the remaining ingredients. Stir Pero into the hot water until dissolved.  Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and, using the tip of the knife, scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the hot Pero. Stir gently. Slowly pour the Pero mixture over the ice cream. Serve immediately.

Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie

Okay, so I have a confession.

Two Christmases ago (Christmas 2011), my sister and I made these big plans to bake a bunch of Christmas cookies. We narrowed it down to six different, scrumptious recipes. We divvied up who would buy what ingredients. We bought the supplies to package them up super cute (and they were SUPER cute).

Then we never made the cookies.

We didn't bake a single one. And we ended up returning all the adorable little plastic pails the cookies never graced.

But that's not my confession.

Most of the ingredients were pretty typical things that were pretty quickly used up in my regular baking and such. Except for the Nabisco chocolate wafers.

I felt like they were kind of hard to find, so I held on to them. And they have been sitting in my pantry ever since.

UNTIL NOW!

I used them for the crust of this chocolate pie. And do the math: they were over 16 months old! Way past their "best if used by" date. 

But my family is not dead from eating old cookies. They didn't even notice until I told them (after they'd already eaten plenty of pie). 

Moral of the story: Nabisco Chocolate Wafers hold up remarkably well, and chocolate pie covers many sins. 

Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.

Ingredients 30 (about 6 oz.) chocolate wafer cookies 1 Tbsp sugar 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 1/2 c sugar 3 Tbsp chocolate malt Ovaltine 1 tsp salt 1/4 c cornstarch 5 large egg yolks 2 c whole milk 1/2 c heavy cream 5 oz. dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), chopped 2 oz. milk chocolate, chopped 1 tsp vanilla 2 tsp whiskey (I did not use this) whipped cream Cooking Directions In a food processor, grind the cookies to a very fine powder--you should have about 1 1/2 cups. Put crumbs in a bowl and stir in the sugar. Pour butter over the crumb mixture and mix until well combined. The mixture will feel wet. Turn the crumb mixture out into a 9-inch pie plate and press it into the bottom and up the sides. Freeze the crust while you make the filling. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, Ovaltine, salt, and cornstarch. Add the egg yolks and whisk until combined. The mixture will look like a thick paste. Slowly pour in the milk and cream, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent burning. Boil for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat. Add the chocolates, whiskey, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Continue to whisk for a few minutes to cool the mixture slightly. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes at room temperature. A thin skin may form as it cools; simply whisk the mixture again until the skin is gone. Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell. Refrigerate 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

NEWSFLASH! The previously posted recipe for Sweet and Salty Cake contained an omission in the ingredient list. It has been corrected, and I apologize for any inconvenience or resultant reduction of delectability. 

I had a discussion with my sister-in-law the other day about how baked goods look vs. how they taste. She felt like deliciousness is the measure of a baked good and appearance was unimportant. I agree that deliciousness trumps any other factor. But, in my mind anyway, I feel like if you put effort into executing all the steps correctly, it should look good in the end. Pretty, even.

But maybe I'm wrong.

Because I followed the instructions on these cookies to the letter. But they have that saggy-old-lady-skin look to the edges. Why?

I've done a little research, and most of what I found suggests one of two things:

1) Instead of using butter, use half butter half Crisco. To which I say, "Thanks for that; I'll file that away..."* Since deliciousness trumps appearance, that is not a viable option.

2) Chilling the dough before baking. To which I say, "But I did! The recipe told me to!"

After baking the initial batch, I even froze the rest of the dough in little balls and baked some a few days later. Still old lady skin cookies.

And, truth be told, the pictures of these cookies in the cookbook don't look super great, either. Not so wrinkly, but not the picture-perfect cookies I imagine.

So, next time, I will take some other advice I found, which is to reduce the baking soda. We'll see how that turns out.

In the meantime, the cookies were delicious. A great balance of cookie and chocolate chips. They will be my new go-to chocolate chip cookie, replacing the recipe I used to use, which was entitled "Best Cookies."

UNTIL NOW!

Chocolate Chip Cookies a.k.a. New Best Cookies (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.
Ingredients

• 2 1/4 c flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool
• 1 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 2/3 c (16 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat for 5 seconds.
3. Add half the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerator for 6 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out dough in 2-tablespoon-size balls. Use your hands to shape the dough into perfect balls and place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans once during the cooking time, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops just start to darken.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the individual cookies to the rack to cool completely.

* Does anybody know where that quote came from? I have listened to the movie playing in my car probably 100 times. Still funny.