Cake success, Southerner fail.

Here's a red velvet cake I made for Easter for my pals David and Matt. I again used a recipe from the Baked cookbook. I even fought my instinct and used their recipe for cinnamon frosting - instead of cream cheese frosting.

This goes against everything I know as a Southerner and as a baker. My family would be ashamed, and I'm not even kidding. They'd absolutely brand me a "yankee." It's a sin not to use cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cake. That said, the cinnamon frosting was very good - a little spicy, buttery, and very creamy. And, because the frosting is partially cooked, it really held it's shape very well.

You can see how red the cake is in this photo:


In hindsight, I think that two tablespoons of red gel food color was too much. I might try to add two teaspoons next time. I wanted the cake to be subtly red, not blood red like this. But at least there's no mistaking that this is a red velvet cake, I suppose.

Here's the full crumb coated cake:


You can see the need for a "crumb coat" of frosting in this photo. It literally collects the crumbs off the cake so they don't end up in the final layer of frosting.


Here's the finished product:




I got the sugar flowers at NY Cake and Bake. I made the little candies by holding a lighter over some chocolate discs for a few seconds, then pressing a hot tamale onto the melted surface of each one. I wanted Red Hots, but those were impossible to find.

Boxed up a ready to go!


Both David and Matt said this cake was well-liked. So a success. BUT - I will soon start to work on a more stable version of a cream cheese frosting. The guilt I felt from this was more than I expected. Cake success, Southerner fail.

Here are a few albums I've been really enjoying lately. Really great for balmy summer afternoons. You should check them out!