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Monday, February 1, 2010

Pinkalicious!




I was going to write about Cub Cake, a German coffee cake I made on Saturday, but then I made this mile-high red velvet cake and it seemed ever so much more exciting.

A friend of a friend invited me to enter a red velvet cake in a contest at the Red Show to be held at the Brooklyn Historical Society on February 13th (see poster above) and tonight I decided to experiment with pink frosting and three layers. Not sure I'll go with this version, but it was a lot of fun to create.

So this is my "practice" cake (and one that will end its life in my office and dear husband's tomorrow). I used to bake lots of red velvet cakes for a couple of local restaurants but I gave it up a while back -- the thrill was gone when red velvet cakes were suddenly everywhere, even available in Duncan Hines mixes! -- so I figured I needed a trial run.
Next up: That Cub Cake, the Joy of (Children's) Cooking and more!

10 comments:

  1. your red velvet cake is smooth like a baby's bottom. rich and succulent, tingling the tastebuds as a Mozart concerto salves the senses. one cannot simply eat one bite, one must devour mouthfuls, rolling the sweet flavors around the tongue before swallowing blissfully in anticipation of the next. Your red cake is a velevetine paroxysm of pleasure, Ms. LaRosa. keep up the good work! Betty Crocker, you are toast.

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  2. I always thought red velvet was strawberry or some other red fruit flavor (yuck!) so I stayed away from it. Inspired by your photos, I decided to look it up and to my surprise - no fruit at all! Its just colored red, right? Is there a specific flavor too? I might just have to try some!

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  3. NO CONTEST- You won hands down.. that was dreamy red velvet cake.. thanks!!

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  4. Hi Susan,

    I'm enjoying your blog! I'm having a 50th birthday party for my sister, who was born on Valentine's day. Would this be a good cake to serve, or do you have another recommendation?

    Deb Pilutti

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  5. @Alec: Wow! You're now my official copywriter!
    @Margaret: It's really a simple cocoa cake whose main flavors are "sweet" and "moist." The red comes from red food dye, no yucky fruits!
    @Anonymous: I know who you are. And thank you! Now if you could only arrange to be a judge!
    @Deb: Thanks so much. This would be a lovely cake for your sister's birthday. Check out Arthur Schwartz's website: foodmaven.com for an excellent red velvet cake recipe. It's simple to make and delish. Use Hershey's cocoa (and the cake will appear more red). I used Valhrona in the above cake and it appears more like chocolate. Also, use the entire bottle of dye.

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  6. That Alec certainly is quite the wordsmith. Is he as yummy as he writes?

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  7. Just to be clear: The NO CONTEST posting by Anonymous is from a different author than the Anonymous asking about Alec.. as I know better!

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  8. @Anonymous #1: So true! The second "Anonymous" is not anonymous to me -- I know this person quite well!

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  9. Susan, I did make the red velvet cake (actually cupcakes) for the Valentine's birthday and it was delicious! I am not a baker, so I appreciated the simplicity of the recipe. Thanks for the tip!

    - Deb

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  10. @Deb: So glad it worked out! That is a great recipe and almost foolproof. With your artistic talent, I'll be you could create gorgeous cakes using sugar as your medium.

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