Saturday, April 3, 2010

HAPPY EASTER - Take a PEEP at this Red Velvet Cake


Last night was a sad night for us... Our company is going home tomorrow 
 :(


BUT... It is hard to be sad when you are making a legendary Red Velvet Cake... And impossible to be sad when decorating with Easter Peeps...


First the cake... Red Velvet Cake is legendary for it's chocolate richness, buttercream icing decadence and the beauty of the red cake contrasted with the white icing.  Bobby Flay did one of his Throwdown shows about Red Velvet cake a few years ago.  A simple Google search came up with that recipe on the Food Network Website and I stuck to it...


Ingredients For the Cake  



  • 3 3/4 cups AP Flour
  • 3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure Vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon red food coloring
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
  • The Frosting Recipe Follows

For the cake:

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans and line each pan with a round of parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl
Cream the butter, sugar and oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, vinegar and food coloring.
Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches alternating with the buttermilk, mixing well after each addition. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pans. Let cool completely before frosting. Slice each cake into 2 layers and frost.

Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
  • 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
Combine the cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the vanilla bean and discard. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a paste, about 2 minutes. Scrape into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 2 hours.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and the sugar is totally dissolved, about 6 minutes. Add the cold paste, a few tablespoons at a time to the butter mixture and whip until light and fluffy.


You have heard already that I do not have a few items that in the past I would have considered essential.


Like my Kitchenaid mixer.  Truly Joanie Mitchell was right when she sang "You don't know what you've got till it's gone".  BUT, what I did have was my cousin-in-law's daughter who just earned a baseball scholarship to college.  So, no kitchenaid, no mixer, but I did have the $14,000 a year arm of a baseball girl to do all the heavy lifting... um mixing involved.


Of course the star of this recipe is the decorating.


And as spectacular as it looks, it is so easy a baseball girl who spends almost no time in the kitchen can do it (sounds like a car insurance commercial).


Line the top with a ring of peeps... I alternated the colors, but if you have a preference, feel free to chose just one color...


line the top with a bed of chocolate chips...


Cut a few peeps in half (oh the peeping screams of terror) and line the base of the cake with the half peeps, again alternating colors...


and finally, add a few single chips between the peeps as accents!




And what better way to celebrate the blessed Easter season than with such complete decadence...


As you would expect from a food network slash Bobby Flay recipe.  Perfection!  The recipe came out extra chocolaty, extra moist, decadently sweet and rich... And the whimsical touches made it a big hit with everyone.


It was fun to have a sous chef for a day.  I got to sit back and bark a few instructions and watch it all come together!  The $14,000 a year baseball girl got to learn a new skill (and how else would she be able to catch a baseball boy than with this recipe... certainly not making Brussels sprouts... but I digress)



And the most important thing of all to learn is to be humble...


And to be gracious when you bask in the glory among your family and friends when you have a successful cook session...


Pose for photos...




Live the moment...




One quick note, I was inspired by this decoration idea from a post from the Noble Pig, when she showed how she made a sunflower Cake to honor Kansas!
...

19 comments:

  1. Dave those photos are hilarious! And the cake looks great. Perfect for Easter!

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  2. Mmmm red velvet cake is one of my absolute favorites! The perfect easter treat. I have yet to try this Bobby Flay recipe but I obviously need to give it a go!

    Love the photos. Maybe instead of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer I need to get my parents to hire me a girl on a baseball scholarship. Does she come with a kneading function as well?

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  3. Wonderful photos and so glad you had your helper! Looks like you were both having a great time. Can't go wrong with red velvet cake and it's so cute with the peeps. Happy Easter to you and your family :-)

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  4. Happy Easter, Dave. That's quite a cake. It really speaks to the season. Have a fabulous weekend. Blessings...Mary

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  5. haha - Love the pic of the devoured cake! I was actually looking to make red velvet cupcakes (but coloured with beets) Happy Easter!

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  6. Hand over the Peeps, and nobody gets hurt...

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  7. This "Peep Cake" is adorable and I only wish that I would've seen it before I made a lemon/chocolate cake, carrot cake, and crossiant bread pudding! And you are so lucky to have such a willing helper! Happy Easter, mon cher ami!

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  8. Oh my goodness I love red velvet cake! I especially love the frosting that you made. So many people ruin it with cream cheese frosting. Happy Easter!

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  9. I just showed my kids the picture of your cake! They thought it looked AWESOME!!

    Great job! Happy Easter to you guys!

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  10. I hope the "actors" from Geico don't read your blog...LOL

    That cake is just too cute and it's making me sad that I didn't buy any marshmallow peeps for Easter this year.

    Happy Easter to you and your family!

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  11. Greta cake. Love the Peeps.

    Also, thanks for joining my blog

    Norma
    http://platanosmangoesandme.blogspot.com

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  12. Happy Easter... great cake! Your assistant did a great job!

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  13. Glad to see peeps in paradise.

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  14. Hahah aww how cute your pictures are! And what a festive cake! Red velvet w. peeps - couldn't be any better.

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  15. These were really nice photos. You both did an awesome job on the cake. The peeps were an added extra treat.

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  16. Those are very cute photos! The cake looks fantastic!!!

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  17. LOVE it! And I actually made that Sunflower Peeps cake that Noble Pig had on her blog. Thanks for sharing this recipe--I have not yet found a Red Velvet cake I've liked (except for the Duncan Hines mix) so I'll try this one.

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