February 14, 2010

Happy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year, that is!  Welcome to the Year of the Tiger......let's have some cake, shall we?


There we go!  That handsome guy is one of 36 fondant Chinese zodiac animals that I rolled, cut, and colored for my oldest daughter's birthday this weekend.  She turned nine on the Saturday, and we had a Chinese-themed party for the neighborhood girls.  They had a blast dipping fortune cookies in chocolate (and SMOTHERING them in sprinkles), painting their Chinese names, and eating with chopsticks......but no matter what else happens at a birthday party, the star of the show is always the cake, right?  Right.  So let's get to it!






No, don't bother adjusting the color on your monitor.  You're not seeing things.  That is, indeed, another Red Velvet cake.  There was nothing I could do about it, it was the Birthday Girl's choice.  Plus, the red went with the party theme, so there we go.  Red Velvet, Part Deux.  Can you take another look at that cake, though?  Look how dark and beautiful and moist it is.  Go ahead, I'll wait. 


This is not the same Red Velvet recipe I used last week.   Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted this recipe several years ago, and I've gotta say, it kicked Martha's Red Velvet's butt.   There were two reasons I decided to use this one after having a lot of success with Martha's last week.  One was that I wanted a three-layer cake, and hers wasn't a big enough recipe.   The clincher, though, was the difference in the amount of cocoa.  Martha's recipe has only 2 tablespoons, while this one has a half cup!  That's four times the amount of cocoa, and that HAS to be a good thing.  




The difference in the cocoa really changed the flavor of the cake, and that's what sold me in the end.  Upping the amount of cocoa turned Red Velvet from a cake that I've always thought of as rather bland to something that was interesting to eat.  It had enough cocoa to really give it a deep flavor, but not enough to actually make it chocolate-y.  Also, this cake rose so beautifully.  Each layer was nearly two inches tall, which is totally what you want when  you're making a birthday cake, yes?   A three layer cake ought to be impressive when it gets set on the table.



I'm going to ask you to look past the shoddy icing job on this cake.  I was literally still frosting it as the kids were coming in the door, so it's not as smooth as it ought to be.  But the frosting is not why I'm posting this picture.  I had to put up a picture of the animals!  I had the good fortune (ha!) to find a set of 12 fondant cutters (tiny cookie cutters, whatever you call them) in the shapes of all of the Chinese zodiac animals.   I bought it immediately, but wasn't sure exactly how I was going to use them.  




Then I found a set of edible-ink markers!  So I rolled some fondant, cut the shapes, let them dry overnight, and before I'd even had my coffee the next morning I was standing in the kitchen coloring roosters, dragons, monkeys, and rats.  Fun!   I wish I had taken some pictures of more of the animals because they all turned out pretty darn cute, but alas, the kids gobbled them up before I'd even finished cutting the cake.  Apparently they all missed the memo that fondant tastes like crap.   Good thing there was cake.





Red Velvet Cake

Makes 3 9" round layers
Preheat oven to 350º

In each pan, place 1 tsp butter.  Place pans in warm oven until butter melts.  Remove pans, brush butter around bottom and sides.  Line bottoms with parchment.

In a bowl, whisk:
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp salt

In the bowl of a mixer on medium speed, beat:
2 cups canola oil
2 1/2 cups sugar

Beat in, 1 at a time:
3 eggs

With mixer on low, add:
6 Tbsp red food coloring or 1 tsp red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 Tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In two alternating batches, add:
flour mixture
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Beat just to combine.

In a small bowl, mix:
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Add to batter and beat 10 seconds.

Divide batter between pans and bake 40 - 45 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in pans for 20 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

3 comments:

  1. The cake turned out awesome! I love it!! Hope she had a great birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your blog. Makes me want to bake if only Hope would eat it all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Susan! I pawn a lot of cupcakes off on my neighbors!

    ReplyDelete