Baking Project #9: Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake. I am fascinated with the red velvet cake. The red cake is such a huge contrast to the white frosting. And the cream cheese frosting itself, can stand on its own. I swear, I can eat all of it little by little. But as fascinated as I am with the red velvet cake, I am actually afraid to make it AGAIN. I’d made it once and the top of the cake looked like a volcano crater. It just wouldn’t bake through. I even returned it in the oven and baked it twice the baking time but the result was the same. The side was already burnt but the top didn’t change much.  It was such a huge failure and made me think that it’s a very technical cake. And since I never went to a baking school, I thought I will just always fail.

Three years later, I was searching for a cake recipe that I could try. And thanks to Pinterest (again!) I found the one that I just knew would turn into a successful and delicious velvety cake. And I was right. The color, the texture and the taste it wasn’t just good, it was great. If you’re into red velvet cakes, you may try this recipe.

RECIPE__________________________________________________________________________

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. red food coloring

  

For the cream cheese frosting

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

Instructions:

For the cake

1.       Preheat oven to 175 ^oCelsius.

2.       Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

3.       Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and whisk until blended. Set aside.

4.       In the bowl of your mixer sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.

5.       Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

6.       Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7.       After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting

Beat butter until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and mix until blended. Little by little and at low speed, add in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla. 

Recipe for the red velvet cake was adapted from: Bakerella

Baking Project #8: Chocolate Crinkles

When I was still in college and living with my relatives, I used to see a plate of crinkles on the table almost weekly. My aunt was moonlighting with her baked goods so it's common to see brownies and tarts in the house. When I left and lived on my own, that hobby was passed on (or acquired?) to my uncle who had to retire early as per his doctor's advise. But if there's one person who was greatly influenced by seeing my aunt baked, it was her daughter, my cousin Jana whom by the way is my favorite.

Anyway, despite seeing those crinkles I never got one and took a bite. Five years in college followed by more years of working and never once did I buy myself a piece. Don't get me wrong, despite it's simplicity I was really enticed by the black and white combination. I just know deep down that it's delicious. However I can't figure out why I haven't tasted it before.

But thanks to Pinterest(!) I saw a lot of photos and recipes (!!!) of crinkles. I tried one and loved it so much I'm not trying anything else (am I missing out a lot???). As of today, I already baked them twice. But yesterday when I went to Shopwise, I saw a load of crinkles being sold and I realized that mine are small in sizes. Tee hee! Well, lesson learned. 

And oh by the way, they'll be making their way to Julian's first brithday! I'm already preparing for it.

If you're interested, here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder (I used dutch processed)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs (room temperature)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp espresso powder 

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:

1. In a bowl, using a wooden spoon, beat together the cocoa powder, sugar and oil until they combine and becomes shiny and gritty.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat well.

3.In  a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Mix into the chocolate mixture until just combined. Cover the dough and place it in a freezer for two hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 deg F and line two baking sheets with parchment papers. Place the confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Using a spoon, get a clump of the chilled dough and roll in into a 1-inch sized ball using your hands. Roll the ball in the confectioner's sugar and place in the baking sheet. Do the same until you fill the whole sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for a minute in the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: I recommend that you cover your hands with confectioner's sugar before rolling the dough or some of it will stick in!

For printable version, click here.

P.S. Chocolate Glazed Cake

Baking Project # 7: 9th Month Birthday Cake

I don't know the reason behind this but from my hometown, they believed that once someone becomes a godmother to your child, you can't be a godmother to her child as well. As it turned out, my closest of friends are Julian's godmothers. So there goes my dream to become a godmother to their children. 

Early this year, my friend gave birth to her son Bryze and he was baptized a few months later. I am honestly jealous that he'll get to call my other friends "ninang" and I won't ever hear it from him. But anyway, I still get to spoil him with my presence as we live only about five minutes away. I used to jive Julian's pedia appointment with his schedule but their pedia is not someone who hurries the consultation (unlike what I observed with my former OB) so one of us had to wait another hour before we can leave. And with other patients at the reception area waiting for their turn, it could get tiring and fearful trying to hold on to Julian as he run around while I hope that he doesn't bump into chairs, other toddlers or the older patients.

Bryze breezed into his 9th month last Saturday and I baked a cake for him. We brought the cake to their house but had to leave early as Julian wasn't feeling well. If you noticed, I do love sprinkles on cake. If I could get away with it, I'd top all cakes with them. But of course I have to choose the appropriate occasion for them and a baby's birthday is just right for it.

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                    


Birthday Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake

    1 cup butter, softened
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    2 1/2 cups sugar
    5 eggs, room temperature
    3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
    2 tsp vanilla

For the buttercream

   1 cup salted butter, softened
   4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
   2 Tbsp heavy cream
   2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (175 deg C). Line 2 8-inch round pans with parchment paper and grease well. 
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 
3. Cream together butter and oil until well combined and fluffy. Add sugar one cup at a time and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another. Scrape the bottom of the bowl, if necessary. Add the flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Beat in vanilla. Beat batter on high for 5 seconds until everything is fully incorporated.
4. Equally divide into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes. Run a spatula or knife around the edge of the pans and transfer to cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Beat butter until pale and fluffy. Slowly mix powdered sugar. Add heavy cream and beat well. Mix in vanilla and beat on high until the desired consistency is attained. Add food color if desired. 

Notes: 

      You can use unsalted butter but I find the result too sweet to my liking so I switched to salted butter. Salted butter softened faster than the salted one.

 

Baking Project #6: Sprinkles Cupcakes

I have 2 packs of sprinkles at home that have been sitting in the cupboard for months but which I am not inclined to throw away. Even if I have to make a couple of cakes and a number of cupcakes to decorate them with I would do it. 

Who am I kidding? Those sprinkles were the reason why I was inspired over the weekend. Suddenly, I had a reason to bake. I was honestly itching to whisk flour and beat butter but baking two weeks in a row didn't sound well for my pocket. I just bought 2 sets of pajamas for Julian, new shirts for me and was even tempted to buy a cake stand if only the color went well with me. 

I have fabricated another alibi. I am set to make 80-100 cupcakes for Calvin's birthday this Sunday and I need to determine just exactly how much buttercream I have to make. I will do the baking at home, bring the cupcakes to Zambales and frost them there. And Diane will have to buy all the ingredients I needed a couple of days before, so planning ahead is necessary.

These cupcakes were soft, even after I stored them in the refrigerator for a day. I would love to do it again. By the way, the first time I made these, I used evaporated milk and the taste was overwhelming and had a burn-out factor. I suggest that you either use whole or fresh milk to balance everything.

RECIPE                                                                                                                                                    


Sprinkles Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 large eggwhites (read direction #2 before separating the yolks from the white)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp milk (fresh or whole)
1/4 cup rainbow jimmies sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg Celsius. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners (14 cupcakes).
2. Sift flour and baking powder in a medium sized bowl. Add salt and whisk. Set aside
3. In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter until pale and creamy. Add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and eggwhites one at a time beating well after each addition. Scrape the bottom of the bowl if necessary. Mix in vanilla. In three additions, alternately beat in the flour mixture and the milk beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. (1/3 of dry ingredients + 1/2 of milk + 1/3 of dry ingredients + 1/2 of milk and then finally the rest of the dry ingredients. Fold in the rainbow jimmies sprinkles.
4. Fill muffin tins with about 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (The original recipe calls for 17-19 minutes, but in my oven it took 22 minutes to have them completely bake.) Remove from the oven, allow in the muffin tins for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to completely cool.

For the frosting recipe, click here.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy