Red Velvet Cake – OMG best ever!! I almost fell down – that’s how good it is

In December, I challenged my colleagues to donate to a few charities, and if we raised a certain amount of money and brought in a certain amount of non-perishable food items, I would bake them whatever they wanted (by vote).  Well, my office was super generous and went well beyond the challenge!  So now it’s time for me to pay up.  They voted on a red velvet cake.

To be honest, at first I wasn’t very excited about the idea of making a red velvet cake.  It’s actually my most least favorite cake.  I know that it’s super popular, but it just doesn’t do it for me.  I don’t like that it has cocoa in it but that you can only taste a hint of it.  I like my chocolate cakes CHOCOLATEY!  Plus all that red dye can’t be good for you.

So I was browsing various food blogs to see if I could find a receipt that I could get excited about.  Otherwise, I was going to bake the trusty one from Alton Brown that I did before.  But then, I found one that looked amazing by Rosie of Sweetapolita.  It looked super fluffy and I especially liked the marshmallow cream cheese frosting that went with it.  A spin on the traditional!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post, although I’ve given it away in the title :)

Red Velvet Cake from Sweetapolita

The adaptations I made were:

• I didn’t use the Red Velvet emulsion, instead I cut down the red gel colour to 1 teaspoon and added 1 Tablespoon of vanilla.  I don’t like adding a lot of food colouring, hence the reduction, but if you like a vibrant red cake, add the original amount.  
• Doubled the cocoa to 2 Tablespoons 
•  Used apple cider vinegar 
•  Grated ¼ teaspoon of lemon rind 
•  Baked in 3, 6 inch rounds and a 4 inch round for leftovers.  Baked for 29 and 25 minutes respectively.

Before baking.

After baking.

Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting from Sweetapolita

 

Marshmallow cream used in the frosting.

Flower Petal Decorations

1.  Melt red candy melts.  I used a water bath to keep them warm as I worked.  To make pink, add some white candy melts or white chocolate.

2.  Using a spoon or spatula, smear the melts onto parchment.  Place on tinfoil shaped like a crescent to make curves.  Peel off when hard.

Verdict: I couldn’t believe how good this cake was!  It was AMAZING!  It was super moist with a good fluffy good sized crumb.  The flavor was amazing! A great balance of the cocoa and vanilla.  I think this might even be the best cake I’ve ever had! The frosting was a nice complement with the subtle cream cheese flavor as it melts on your tongue.  Well done Rosie!

I hope my colleagues like it!

Update: I baked 2 batches of this cake, one that I froze and I didn't due to timing issues.  The cake that I didn't freeze totally dried out.  If I could go back in time, I would have applied a simple syrup on the one that I didn't freeze to keep it moist.  

Potato Chip Cookies – 2 ways

Sleepover time for my friend’s birthday party! We even got matching pajamas for the event!

I was asked to make potato chip cookies as I had made them once before and they were a hit.  I came across another recipe, and wanted to see how they compared.  Potato chip cookie recipe showdown!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Potato Chip Cookie Recipe #1

Adapted from here.

Yields 16 cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

½ cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup toffee bits

¾ cup crushed rippled potato chips

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.

3. Mix in flour and salt just until combined.

4. Mix in pecans, toffee bits, and potato chips.

5. Scoop with an ice cream scoop and place on a tray.  Refrigerate overnight. (This is a standard procedure that I do with all my cookies to help with caramelization and flavor, but the original recipe didn’t call for this. Feel free to bake immediately.)

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges brown a bit.  Cool on baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.

Cookies #1 after baking.

Cookies #2 after baking.

Potato Chip Cookie Recipe #2

Adapted from here.

Yields 24.

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, room temperature

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

4 cups coarsely crushed rippled potato chips, divided in half

½ cup pecans

1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

3. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt just until combined.

4. Mix in 2 cups of the potato chips, pecans, and toffee bits

5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough and drop into a plate of the remaining chips. Roll around to coat.  Place on a tray and refrigerate overnight. (This is a standard procedure that I do with all my cookies to help with caramelization and flavor, but the original recipe didn’t call for this. Feel free to bake immediately.)

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 13-14 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.

Verdict: The first recipe made crumbly and crispy cookies, while the second recipe made cookies that were similar to a chocolate chip cookie – chewy with lots of caramelization.  Although they were both tasty, I preferred the first recipe because I liked the crumbly texture and the potato chip flavor came out better since there wasn’t any brown sugar to mask it.  The boyfriend liked them equally and when I asked him which one he preferred, he said “same-ish”.  One of girls liked the second recipe better.  I guess it depends on your preference!