For some time now I have been trying to find interesting recipes to add to my repertoire of delicious foods. One of them is the Red Velvet cake. I have seen it being made for wedding cakes, birthday cakes and other special occasions.
As usual, I don't cook food or make desserts just for fun (well, ok, sometimes i do!). I always try to have a reason to create something. Most often it is meant for larger groups to enjoy like events at my kid's day care center, events at home like birthday parties and events at work.
Recently my husband needed to take a cake to work and my inner "Barney" (character from the series How I met your mother) popped up and replied: "Challenge accepted!" Red Velvet, here I come!
I had a little search online and quickly realized this ain't an easy recipe. Perhaps the ingredients aren't anything too special but there is a precise process there which takes the level of difficulty up a notch.
The one recipe that worked for me came in the form of a video from Joy of Backing (see video and recipe here). The best part of this was that the instructions were clear, the ingredient dosages were also given in grams and dl and, most importantly, there is that video there to show you "how to". Marvelous!!
I followed the steps and the result of the cake can be seen here in pictures:
First I made the two sponges, which will later form the four layers of the cake. Make sure you oil the bottom and place parchment paper so your cake can be removed easier.
Among the ingredients were flour, eggs, cacao powder, butter and a touch of red food color.
One of the important aspects of the recipe is the chilling of the sponge in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. It helps cut the layers later as the cake is meant to be quite moist and is not easy to cut if not chilled.
Making the buttercream was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. It is better to have the ingredients at room temperature though because the cream cheese needs to be a bit soft. Having said that the whipped cream needs to be added cold!
Placing the buttercream on the chilled cake layers makes it easier.
Cover the top and sides of the cake and decorate to your taste
Your Red Velvet is ready to be placed in the fridge or served straight away.
Now, I just need a bit of feedback since I was not able to taste it :o
I hope people enjoyed it.
If you were amongst those who ate some of this cake, go on, be a good sport and give me some feedback ;)
Easter is the most important celebration for the Orthodox church and for Greeks, whose religion is almost synonymous with their identity. The Holy Week is a build up to Christ's Resurrection and a wrap up of fasting. Easter Sunday is the time to enjoy good food with family and friends. However, during the Holy Week there are many other culinary traditions which lead up to Easter Sunday's great feast and complete the festive table.
Keeping in touch with my roots, my culture and my love for cooking is enhanced during this time of year. Keeping up with some traditions is of out most importance. It is almost like a blessing for the remaining of the year. It is a blessing for good health and prosperity in the family. So, no matter what, I try to keep them.
These traditions have been imprinted in my memory ever since I was old enough to help my mother around the kitchen. A little apprentice learning while helping and mastering an art by watching. A grown up woman perfecting this art by cooking and cooking some more every year. Indeed, most of these traditions are old but, as always, I try to bring in new influences and, without spoiling them, add a unique twist.
Holy Thursday is the time to color our eggs. According to tradition the eggs represent new life and the color red symbolizes the victory of life over death and Christ's blood. However, there are many who dye eggs different colors either by using non-toxic food colors or by making natural colors from red onion skins, spinach, coffee,cabbage etc. My touch to this year's egg tradition was to dye some eggs yellow (by using Turmeric) and brown (by leaving red onion skins cook longer than the time required for red color).
Holy Friday or Saturday we bake the Easter Bread "Tsoureki" (from the Turskish word 'Corek') or "Labropsomo" (in Greek). According to tradition the bread symbolizes life (as the flour changes form and becomes bread). The word "tsoureki" was most likely adopted by Greeks during the Turkish occupation.
I have always feared making tsoureki simply because there are as many recipes as there are cooks. So, it is a bit confusing as to how much to make, how many grams of each ingredient and, in fact, what ingredients to use. I have searched and searched and also asked my mother for her recipe and I believe this Easter I have finally found the one that worked for me (check the recipe here). The result was amazing and I will most definitely do this again.
Last, but not least, comes the lamb. Traditionally lamb is prepared on Easter Sunday. I have eaten it before in other celebrations but, in Greece lamb is synonymous with Easter. Buying a whole lamb on a spit is commonplace. Fastened securely with barb wire, it is then placed on top of an open fire where it is left to spin slowly for hours and hours to cook till the meat drops off the bone. Yum! According to tradition lamb is eaten during Easter because it symbolizes the body of Christ who sacrificed himself, like a lamb, for the salvation of humanity.
As great as all these sound, our reality is somewhat different here in Finland. We live in an apartment block so we had to restrict ourselves to grilling only some parts of the lamb; the tender and yummy ones ;) Lamb sirloin and rib stakes :) And, boy, did we enjoy them!
As we say in Greece "Και του χρόνου με υγεία" (Kai tou hronou me ygeia).
May we be healthy to do this again next year!
