Bake: DIY Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes

A year ago, my friend Shannon requested that I bake red velvet cake for dessert for her birthday. I  received a lot of rave reviews about that recipe. This year, Shannon requested red velvet for her birthday again.  I figured I'd mix things up a bit and try this recipe. It is a totally different approach to red velvet cake. This recipe contains significantly more cocoa and rather than vinegar for the twang, buttermilk.  Shannon liked it just as much. I'm on the fence. J prefers the one from last year. If you make these let me know, what do you think?

Recipe credit goes to Carrot Top Mom! I love her tip about using a ziplop bag with corner tip cut off as a piping bag for the frosting! It worked like a charm. The only modification I made was to reduce the red food coloring to just 2/3 of a bottle.  For the recipe, please visit:
http://www.carrottopmom.com/?p=290

Bake: Mam Papaul's Red Velvet Cake

Those who know me, know that my favorite cake is Red Velvet. I love it so much, that for several years I was on a quest to find the very best one. I think I found it in Truckee, CA at the Old Coffee Shop in town.  Anyhow, we're lucky here in LA - there are many options for good red velvet including Sprinkles and SusieCakes. But there is a certain joy to baking at cake at home, and a few months ago, I had some success with this recipe from scratch. 

Red Velvet: Susiecakes @ Coast in Santa Monica, CA

It's been a while since my last red velvet cake review. Last week, we met up with some good friends for a bite at Coast (in the always lovely Shutters on the Beach hotel) in Santa Monica.  Dinner was great (calamari and burger), but dessert stole the show. The red velvet cake was not made in house, but rather was from Susiecakes Bakery.   One bite led to another and before we knew it, there was none left! This is one of the best pieces of red velvet cake I've had in LA. The cake was moist and flavorful and the frosting decadent and perfectly complimentary. I give it a A. :)

Red Velvet: Yummy Cupcakes, Santa Monica, CA

It has been a little while since I posted a red velvet review. Today, while I was walking around Santa Monica with my friend Steph, we walked by Yummy Cupcakes. I was still so full from brunch at FIG (review to come), but didn't want to pass up the opportunity to sample and rate this take on red velvet....so, I settled on a mini cupcake.  :) (L side of photo, compared to regular cupcake)

Bake: Red Velvet Revisited. :)

For my friend Shannon's birthday, she requested my red velvet cake. I wanted to try something different, so I made cupcakes! I think they made her happy. :)  I made it pretty much made the cupcakes the same way as I made the cake, but used 3 tablespoons of cocoa and decreased the red food coloring to 1 1/2 bottles - it was definitely still pretty red! Baking time is also reduced to 19 -22 min depending on your oven.  Here is a link to the recipe.

Red Velvet: Bricks and Scones

Last weekend, I needed to pass some time while J was at his guitar class in Hollywood so I searched yelp.com on my iphone for nearby coffee shops.  I found Bricks and Scones, and am so glad I did. It was awesome.

This is the kind of coffee shop that I love to study and read in.  It was full of cozy couches indoors and on nice days, they have a fabulous patio.  They serve intelligentsia coffee, have free wifi and plenty of power outlets.

They are known for their scones - I tried the blueberry. It was solid.

But the icing on the cake, was their red velvet. I only bought a mini cupcake since I was so full from all our eating that day.  When I got home and had it later for dessert, I regretted that I hadn't bought more. It was delicious. The cake was flavorful (I think more than the usual amount of cocoa and vanilla), moist and light. The buttercream frosting perfectly complimented the cake.  I give it an A - which puts it up there with Sprinkles.

I wish this was on the West Side. If it was, I'd probably be there every day. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have found my favorite coffee shop in LA. :)

Bricks and Scones
www.bricksandscones.com
403 North Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323-463-0811
Mon-Thu 7:30 am - 10pm
Fri 7:30am -6pm
Weekends 8am- 10pm.

Cook: Delicious LA Red Velvet Cake

I finally did it!!! After eating dozens of red velvet cupcakes / slices of cake over the past 10 years, and making it from mixes (Sprinkles was the best), I finally decided to make it from scratch. The stakes were high, since I have judged and rated so many other versions - most which fell short of my expectations.

I started by doing research. I found all of the top rated recipes on the web, and read through the reviews until I picked what I felt was the most promising version. The winner was the family recipe from Pinch My Salt blog. I followed her recipe more or less, but made a few modifications. Here is the original recipe, below is my adaptation.

So - what did I think? Well, it's a bit awkward to judge my own baking, but suffice to say, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out, and my friends seem to enjoy it as well. (J gave it an "A'!) The cake was moist and light, not too dense nor dry (my most common complaints with RVC). The flavor was delicate with a subtle suggestion of chocolate and buttermilk. The cream cheese frosting was a nice compliment. If I make it again, I may try to increase the cocoa to 3 tablespoons and decrease the red food coloring to 1.5 oz (1 1/2 bottles), but this recipe is very solid, and definitely a keeper!

Delicious LA Red Velvet Cake:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (you can also use 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 oz red food coloring (2 entire bottles!!!)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour three 8-inch round cake pans.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside. (I used a small whisk)
4. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add the buttermilk.
5. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
6. Make sure you have cake pans buttered, floured, and nearby. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. It will fizz! Add to the cake batter and stir well to combine.
7. Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes for 3 pans. Check early, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes from the pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, then gently lift the pan.
9. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.
10. Frost with buttercream or cream cheese icing (recipe below).

Recipe Notes: *Sift cake flour once before measuring, then sift again with the other dry ingredients per recipe instructions. Wear an apron and be careful with the red food coloring–it will stain! As you’re mixing the cake batter, use a spatula to scrape down the bowl frequently throughout the entire process. Another good trick I learned from reading reviews was to put the cake briefly in the freezer (30min) so that the layers become firmer and the red cake won't crumble and mess up the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 16 oz. cream cheese (2 packages), softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (depending on your preference for sugar/cream cheese ratio)
• pinch of salt

Tip: *Use a large bowl as powdered sugar can get a little messy.

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in vanilla extract, salt and powdered sugar. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth).

Update 3-3-11: If you do freeze the cake layers before frosting, loosen them in pan (so they don't stick to bottom when you take them out) and cover pan with saran wrap. If you do use this strategy, let cake come to room temperature before serving. We served this cake at room temperature, but it is also delicious slightly chilled out of the fridge!

Red Velvet: Vanilla Bake Shop, Santa Monica

I frequently drive by the Vanilla Bake Shop on Wilshire, and have always found the shop charming from the outside. After reading some favorable reviews on yelp.com about their meyer lemon raspberry (supposedly, Martha Stewart's favorites) and red velvet cupcakes, I was looking forward to giving it try. It was close to 6 pm (closing time on Sunday) and unfortunately, neither of those cupcakes were available. Not ready to give up, I spotted a red velvet cake in the corner of the case, and ordered up a slice to go.

To my utter dismay, when I got home and took my first bite, I was shocked and surprised... the cake tasted like a wet rag. I closed my eyes, and took another bite. Yuck. The cake was dense and overly moist with a strange flavor that did not resemble chocolate or buttermilk (key ingredients in Red Velvet Cake). The frosting also lacked flavor and tasted like a big glob of whipped butter. I can't speak for the other flavors or baked goods at the bakery (which may in all fairness, may be very good), but this was the worst Red Velvet Cake I have ever tried (and I've tried dozens, maybe even >50).

Grade: F

Vanilla Bake Shop

512 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 458-6644

Red Velvet: Cuvee

Red Velvet is my favorite type of cake. When I realized that more often than not, it tastes terrible (it is a complicatedbalance of flavors and frosting to get right)... I started a "quest for the perfect red velvet cake". After trying several dozen over many years, I finally found it- in Truckee, California. On this blog, I will continue to rate Red Velvet cakes and will probably bring back some of my older posts/reviews, with the hopes that I will spare you from eating the lousy ones.

The cake had a nice flavor but was a bit too dense.

The frosting was cream cheese but had a very strong and heavy butter taste.

All in all - a good attempt, but too heavy all around. Grade = B-

Cuvee

www.mycuvee.com

145 South Robertson Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

(310) 271-4333