What's in a name

If I am unsure about what to make, I often ask my husband his opinion. This happened recently when I was trying to decide what type of cupcakes to make. I have made a whole list for my catering business of different types, with candy bar themes and ice cream shoppe themes, etc., and I just couldn't decide which type to try first-they all sounded so delicious to me. Before I could even recite the list to my husband, to let him know what his choices were, he immediately answered: Red Velvet. Now, I don't think he has ever even  had Red Velvet, but that was the choice he made. I remember eating it as a child, and I wasn't too terribly impressed. For Christmas this last year, my husband bought me a Red Velvet cake mix from a bakery. I tried it out and wasn't too impressed with the results. I figured I just don't care for it that much. I also feel immensely guilty about the extreme amount of red food coloring called for in the recipes I have seen.
So, I harrumphed and decided to make the Red Velvet for him (since I asked).
I had a Red Velvet recipe in a magazine my mom had purchased (for herself...somehow it ended up with my stuff...odd...) The author detailed how some recipes use a chocolate cake and simply add red food coloring, but that is not how true Red Velvet should be made. I figured, hey, she owns a pretty successful bakery, she probably knows.
There was still something bothering me, though. I didn't like the thought of using all that food coloring. Don't get me wrong, I use the stuff, but only about once a year at Christmas when we are decorating cut-out cookies. I decided to try to find out if there was a substitution I could use that wouldn't compromise the color or flavor. I found many chefs who don't like to use that much food coloring use an equal amount of cherry or blackberry juice is a substitute, so I decided to go compromise a bit. I used about 1/3 of the red food coloring called for and the rest I used cherry juice (I had some in the freezer) it worked great and looked great, too. I felt better about using the juice, and next time I will probably use all juice.

The cupcakes were, by the way, absolutely amazing. I think my husband ate three the first time around. They were tender, probably due to the inclusion of buttermilk, and flavorful, and the cream cheese frosting is just delicious. These are definitely a make again item.
I piped white chocolate lettering on some parchment just as an experiment, and that's what you see in the picture. You should definitely try these.

Red Velvet Cupcakes


Makes about 20 cupcakes
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring, blackberry juice, or cherry juice
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon high-fat cocoa powder such as hershey’s special dark

Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet ½ cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
Transfer batter to lined muffin pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: (double batch)

8 oz unsalted butter, softened
16 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until soft and smooth, about 2 minutes. With mixer on low, add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed.

Use white chocolate or white melting chocolate for lettering.

An Apple a Day

Now that fall is here, and apples are in season, are you eating your apple a day? Well, there are a few ways you can do that, and one of them is this delicious caramel apple cake. The day I saw the recipe in a magazine, I decided I would make it, first chance I got. My husband's birthday is in October, so when I was planning his birthday dinner, I asked if he would like to try it. He was game.

 I made the recipe almost exactly the way it said to, but I didn't have a three-inch cake pan (and I was a bit short on time) so I turned them into muffins instead of a whole cake. I wouldn't make their caramel sauce (much too tedious and its not that good...) I would make this one instead. The addition of orange juice to the batter is great, and the use of baking powder and baking soda makes these muffins puff up very nicely.

The jist of the dessert goes like this: lay some apple pieces in the bottom of each muffin cup, pour in cake batter. While its baking, make the sauce. Pop out muffins, pour sauce on. This is my condensed version. Their version takes 2 1/2 hours, mine, about 30 minutes.

You decide.


Caramel Apple Muffins

1 Recipe Caramel Sauce

For the batter

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 cup sour cream
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
4 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease muffin pan.
Combine all cake batter ingredients, except for the apples, in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides. Add apples and fold in.
Divide batter between muffin pans. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Test for doneness.
Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce.
Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes. Turn out onto plates or serving platter. Top each muffin with a ladle full of caramel sauce.

Shhh...don't tell

I was going through recipes in my mind, trying to decide what to write next. I thought about a main dish I had made recently, but then I realized, I have not posted a dessert in a while (that is because I am trying to give you other things besides desserts!)
And then, it hit me. This cake is fantastic. It is actually a beautiful union between a fudgy, delightful chocolate cake, and some brownies I had. This cake could stand alone and be perfect for birthdays, dinner parties, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Columbus Day (trust me, you will be trying to find reasons to make this cake).

What makes this cake sooooo good? First, it is four layers high, which tends to impress in and of itself. But add to that fudge frosting, and the fact that you use a cake mix, and you have the makings of an easy, delicious dessert that can be made ahead. Add orange peel and you have taken it to the next level. Now, if orange turns you off, leave it out, but if you have ever enjoyed one of those chocolate oranges at Christmas time you will love love LOVE this cake. The zest of two oranges is all you need to take this cake over the top. Be careful with the frosting, it is what really makes this cake amazing!
Let me tell you something about this, you want to make two cake recipes if you want an extra tall cake. This is what I usually do. It turns out fantastic this way. I have listed the ingredients for a single batch, but you should try the four tiered version for company! You will also need to clean out your bowl to use it for the frosting. Do not try to hurry and make this cake before company comes. You want to start early in the day or even the day before.

Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/3 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
zest of 1 orange

Icing
3 cups (1 1/2 bags) semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 nonstick 8-inch cake pans. Cut parchment to cover bottoms of pans and place inside. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
To Make the Cake: Combine the cake mix, water, eggs, oil, sour cream, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, use and electric hand mixer. Beat on low speed until the mixture is well blended. Increase the speed to medium if using a stand mixer (high for a hand mixer) and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. Pour the batter into a prepared baking pans and bake until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely on the racks. If you are making the four layer cake, repeat.
To Make the Icing: Put the chocolate chips in the metal bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Alternatively, use and an electric hand mixer. Combine the sugar, milk, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let boil vigorously for exactly 1 minute. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the chocolate. Add the vanilla. Beat on medium speed until the mixture begins to thicken to a spreadable consistency, 10 to 15 minutes.
To assemble, place 1 cake, flat-side up, on a platter. Spread one quarter of the icing (about 3/4 cup) over the top of the cake. Top with the second cake, flat-side up and spread one quarter of the icing (about 3/4 cup) over the top. Repeat with layers three and four. Spread a thin layer of the remaining icing over the op and sides of the cake.
Note: if your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the cake for about 15 minutes after frosting the second layer. This will prevent the cake from sliding.