Red Velvet Cake

I'm baking a Red Velvet Cake for a friend's birthday today.  Let's just say that red velvet is the only cake that makes me wince every time I bake it.  Why?  Because it looks like I've pureed a small animal in my mixer.

I've always been skeptical of red velvet.  I think it's the "red headed step child" of chocolate cake and yellow cake.  My personal belief about the origin of red velvet is this:

Once upon a time, there was a baker.  This baker was making a chocolate cake, but realized while measuring the ingredients, that there was only a quarter of the cocoa that was needed.  "Oh No!" the baker cried, "I've already put in that cocoa, and I don't have time to get some more!"  Frantic, the baker tore through the kitchen and found red food coloring.  "Maybe this will mask the color of the cocoa so people won't think I've skimped on the cocoa.  I've got it, I'll put in the same amount of food coloring as the cocoa.   That'll definitely mask the color of the cocoa."  So, the baker finished the cake, and when the cake came out of the oven, the texture reminded the baker of the way velvet looks, thus calling it "Red Velvet Cake."  The End.

You're probably wondering why I think it's the "red headed step child" of chocolate cake and yellow cake. One:  You add a little cocoa to a yellow cake recipe.  Two:  You add the same volume of red food coloring as the cocoa.  Yeah, now you know the dirty little secret.

Maybe I should try a red velvet cake recipe that uses beets instead.

Gingerbread Update

Just a little mishap when it came out of the pan.  Planning on cutting it up into triangles anyway.

Treacle Anyone?

'Tis the season for Harry Potter, and I've been invited to a themed birthday party.  But what to make to fit in with the theme?  I don't have time to make an elegantly sculpted cake or to research "genuine" Harry Potter treats.  Then inspiration struck me:  treacle.  Yes, good ol' treacle, known as molasses on this side of the pond, at least I think they're the same, not certain, but for the purposes of this entry, treacle is molasses and molasses is treacle.

Random fact about molasses:  When visiting the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County, VA, the guide told us (I think I was in 4th grade when my class went) that when Booker T. Washington would be given a little bit of molasses as a treat as a child, he would let it spread all over his plate to make it appear to be more than it really was.  That's how special molasses is.

No, I didn't make treacle tarts, which I think are similar to chess pies (even though I am a proud Southerner, I do not like chess pie).  What else has molasses in it?  Gingerbread!

Ah, I remember going to Colonial Williamsburg's Raleigh Tavern Bakery and gobbling up their "ginger cakes."  When I saw that they had a cookbook, I snatched it up, only to find that the modern adaption for the recipe turned out to be gingerbread cookies, not little cakes.  Disappointing.

Okay, so I did some tweaking to a recipe from the cookbook mentioned in the cheesecake post.  Channeling the "Ginger Ninja" (a friend from undergrad) I doubled the ginger.  It just didn't look like enough, if it's "ginger" bread, it should have more ginger than cinnamon (the recipe called for equal amounts of each).  Also, I used dark brown sugar instead of regular sugar, since this is all about the molasses.  I am waiting for it to cool down for the final inspection.  Will it be as good as the colonial ginger cakes?  We'll see.