TheCompanySheKeeps

Last month, it was my birthday that set the ball rolling for all of the others, a family of Aries we are, though I don’t give the stars too much credit for who we are. I tossed the idea around of this cake or a fantastic carrot cake recipe that I have, and given that I’ve never made Red Velvet before, this one won out simply because I wanted to give it a try.  This is good cake and the i-phone photo doesn’t do it justice. Also, this cake freezes well. After we enjoyed a piece, I sliced it up, separated out the pieces with wax paper and placed it in the freezer. When we wanted another one, we took out a slice, let it thaw about an hour and it was good to go.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 3 cups cake flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil (I used melted & cooled refined coconut oil)
• 4 eggs, at room temperature & separated
• 1 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
• liquid or gel red food coloring
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

For the frosting:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, (I used Neufchatel) at room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbsps. milk or cream
• 2 tsps. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 9 inch round pans with parchment paper and grease on the bottom and sides; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside. Beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the oil and beat on high for 2 minutes. The butter may look “piece-y” and not completely combine with the oil. This is normal and ok.

Add four egg yolks and the vanilla. (Set the egg whites aside.) Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vinegar and the food coloring– until you reach your desired color. I used a small container of the red gel and a bottle of red food coloring. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not over mix. Vigorously whisk or beat the 4 egg whites until thick and foamy, about 3 minutes. Fold into cake batter. The batter will be silky and slightly thick.

Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing and transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and 2 Tablespoons of cream. Beat for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and 1 more tablespoon of cream if needed to thin out. Beat on high for 2 full minutes. Taste the frosting and add a pinch of salt if it is too sweet.

First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Set these thin pieces of cake aside. Place 1 cake layer on a plate or cardboard round, and frost evenly, covering the cake with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and spread remaining frosting all over the top and sides. Crumble the thin pieces of cake you sliced off in a large bowl. Decorate the sides and top edges of the cake with these crumbs, if desired.

Source: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/02/09/red-velvet-layer-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Along with all of our birthdays, a dear friend of mine’s birthday is nestled in there as well. She and her co-workers celebrate their days and she had told me she had to go pick out her cake at the bakery and take it in to work. Nonsense! It’s absurd to me that you are responsible for your own birthday cake (unless you’re like me & can’t wait to get in the kitchen and create), let alone having to pick it up and take it to the office. Ahem, that’s what your co-workers are supposed to do. So, I offered to make her this cake and bring it to her on her birthday.

This cake is light and refreshing. A perfect spring and summertime cake to use up the abundance of zucchini growing in the garden. And, the lemon cream cheese frosting? Oh, behave! If only the internet had a scratch and sniff feature. It is so good, even by itself. After I frosted her cake, there was just a bit left over so I took out the raspberries from the refrigerator and had my own little dessert! Tasty, I tell you!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 3 cups flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup refined coconut oil, melted and cooled (or you can use Canola oil)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini

For the frosting:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 2 lemons
• 8 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 3 9 inch round pans with parchment paper and grease the bottom and sides; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake. In a medium bowl, beat together all the remaining ingredients for the cake. Pour into dry ingredients & mix well. Distribute evenly among the 3 prepared pans. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Cool cakes in pan for 10 minutes before removing and transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

In a stand up mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix together until smooth. Starting with two cups at a time, sift in the powdered sugar and beat well after each addition; scraping down the sides and bottom to fully incorporate. Using a plate or cardboard round, add one layer of cake, frost, and repeat. After the last cake layer, frost the top and sides.

Note: I’ve made this cake before and halved the frosting. This allowed enough frosting for in between the layers and the top. Since I was gifting this cake, I thought it would look better and more finished with an outside coating of frosting. Either way, it tastes amazing!

After considering a few options, Brianna selected this cake for her 14th birthday. It is as good as it looks, and quite honestly, tastes like an Oreo cookie, in a cake version – on steroids! This cake is immensely filling.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsps. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used melted & cooled refined coconut oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 8-9 cups powdered sugar
• 2 pkgs. Oreos (grind enough Oreos to produce 3 cups of fine crumbs)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6-7 tbsps. water
• 10 Oreos coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 3 9 inch round pans with parchment paper and grease bottom and sides; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients of the cake. Add eggs, buttermilk, and oil to dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla and boiling water, mix well. Pour evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for 23 – 28 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to remain in pans for 10 minutes before removing from pans and transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, prepare frosting by beating together the butter and shortening. Slowly add 4 cups of powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Add vanilla and 3 cups of Oreo crumbs to mixture, mix well. Add an additional 4-5 cups of powdered sugar and tablespoons of water (or milk) to achieve desired consistency. Set aside 3 1/2 cups of frosting and chopped Oreos.

To frost cakes, first remove any domes off the cakes to make for even, leveled cakes. Place one cake on a plate or round, add 1/2 of the frosting and top with chopped Oreos, and repeat with another cake layer, frosting, and Oreos. Add final layer of cake and top with frosting. Apply frosting evenly to the outside perimeters of the cake, smoothing as you go. Apply crumbs to the bottom part of the cake, pressing gently into the frosting. Uing frosting, create peaks along the outside top layer of the cake and top with halved Oreos. Sprinkle the top with Oreo crumbs.

Note: This recipe made quite a lot of frosting. So much so, I didn’t use it all. Additionally, at Bri’s party, I noted that several of the kids scraped off about half of the frosting from their respective pieces. If frosting is really what floats your boat, then this is your cake. Otherwise, I’m thinking you could easily reduce the frosting by half and still have plenty.

Source: http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2015/02/04/chocolate-oreo-cake/

I’ve seen this cake listed before as Better Than Almost Anything, but when it first came into the picture way back when, when I was growing up, it was called Better Than Sex cake. This is super easy and a consistent winner. I’ve yet to meet someone who does not like this cake. This is the cake that Chris requested for his birthday. He prefers his desserts to be on the cool, creamy side and it doesn’t get much better than this. I mostly always make homemade cakes, but I confess, I’ve never done it with this one. Shh, it’ll be our secret.

Ingredients:

• 1 box German chocolate cake mix (I used a Swiss chocolate cake mix this time)
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 jar of caramel topping (Mrs. Richardson’s, if you can find it)
• 1 12oz. container of whipped topping (I used truwhip which is 100% natural, non GMO, no hydrogenated oil, etc)
• toffee bits (I have a big bag of Skor toffee bits in the freezer, but the best way is to buy a few Skor coffee bars and chop ’em up, though they can be hard to find. Frankly, I’m not a fan of Heath bars, Skor bars are just so much more decadent, in my opinion.

Preparation:

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions. While the cake is still warm, using the opposite end of a wooden spoon, poke holes all throughout the cake. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk and the jar of caramel topping all over the cake, allowing it to work its way into the holes. Refrigerate. When cake is cool, top with whipped topping and sprinkle toffee bits over the top. Return to refrigerator until ready to serve.