Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

As a kid, I was the one who'd eat the frosting and leave the cake.  { What can I say, I know what I like. } Cake batter came in at a close second for favorite sweet.  Still does.

{ Case in point. }

To this day, Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden cake batter and Wilton buttercream taste like childhood.  Crazy how things like that can make you so nostalgic.

{ Pretty sure I was about to dig into this thing face first. }

Lately, though, I've wanted something a little less sweet and a little more complex than buttercream.  Enter what I'll call Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.  Kind of like buttercream, kind of like cream cheese.  It's the best of both worlds, and I put this stuff on everything. { Much as I want to, I can't quote the Frank's Hot Sauce lady.  Hi Mom! }

{ Love this cake.  And this day.  And this man. }

Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening { I love the Crisco sticks... they're much easier to deal with }
• 1/2 cup { 1 stick } butter, softened
• Forget to set it out to soften?  Just pop it in the microwave, standing upright, for ten seconds on 50% power.  Bing!
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups confectioner's/powdered sugar { sifted, if you're hardcore }
• 4 ounces { half a package } cream or neufchatel cheese

Primary Equipment

• Bowl
• Mixer { stand or hand }
• Spatulas, both traditional rubber and offset
• Optional pastry bag/tips for decorating

Instructions

• Cream butter, shortening and cream cheese on medium speed for two minutes.
• Add vanilla and mix well.
• Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl with each addition.
• Once all sugar has been incorporated, mix for two additional minutes at medium-high speed.

Butter Cream Cheese Frosting can be tinted with food gel just like a buttercream.  And it holds its shape like one, too.  Just with a bit more tang.

Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container until you're ready to use it.  Whip it right back up and frost away!

The Best Red Velvet Cake. Ever.

I'm a big fan of The Cake { Mix } Doctor.  { Gasp! I admit it. I use cake mix sometimes.  No shame.  }

Cake mix is just flour, sugar and the like.  I'll be glad to let someone measure it out for me ahead of time, especially when I can buy it on sale at the grocery store for $0.99!

Not only are Ann's cakes awesome, she's a Georgia Bulldog.  Which pretty much makes her awesome by default.  And, she was an AOII! : ) Girlfriend has several cookbooks, and I have three of them.

This Red Velvet Cake is on page 104 of "The Cake { Mix } Doctor Returns."  And it's the one I used for the now infamous baby shower cake.  I can't go a day in the office without someone saying it was the best they've ever had!

30 minutes to make; 20 minutes to bake.  In about an hour you, too, can impress the socks off of folks with your culinary skills.  And no one has to know it started in a box!  { I won't tell if you won't. }

The Best Red Velvet Cake. Ever.

{ in my humble opinion }

Adapted from "The Cake { Mix } Doctor Returns"

Ingredients

• Wilton Cake Release, non-stick spray, or solid vegetable shortening to grease the pans
• Wax or parchment paper to line the pans
• 1 18.5 ounce package plain butter recipe cake mix { Duncan Hines all the way! }
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
• Don't have any buttermilk?  Don't stress.  Add one tablespoon white vinegar for each cup of milk and let stand for five minutes.  Bingo.
• 1 bottle { 1 ounce } red food coloring
• 1/2 cup { 1 stick } butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

Primary Equipment

• Stand or hand mixer
• Measuring cups
• 3 9" cake pans
• Spatula
• Ice cream scoop or 1/2 cup measuring cup to divide batter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350*.  Ensure rack is in the center of the oven.
• Using a pastry brush { or paper towel }, grease three 9" round pans with Cake Release or shortening.  Be sure to coat both the bottoms and sides of each.
• Line the bottom of each pan with parchment or wax paper.  { Separate post for how to cut the paper to fit perfectly coming soon! }
• Next, throw everything into the mixer bowl.  Yes, everything.  And enjoy the fun reaction between baking soda and vinegar.  Hello, elementary school science class!
• Beat on low speed until just mixed, about one minute.
• Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
• Crank the mixer up to medium-high and mix for two minutes.  Everything should be well incorporated and slightly fluffy.
• Divide batter among pans using an ice cream scoop or 1/2 cup measuring cup.  Each pan will end up with about 1 1/2 cups of batter.
• Bake for 17-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes back clean.
• Place pans on wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Run a think metal spatula or knife around the edge of each pan to make sure that the edges are clear from the pan.
• Invert cakes out of each pan onto a wire rack, then invert again onto a separate rack so that the cakes are right-side up.
• Allow to cool for at least 15 more minutes before frosting.

Top with traditional Cream Cheese Icing or my favorite Butter Cream Cheese Icing.  Then, bask in the glory of compliments from serving the best Red Velvet Cake. Ever.

Julia, darling, I whole-heartedly agree!  { Not that I'm biased or anything. }

{ I saw this on my friend Erin's blog and I had to share. }

Rainy Night in Georgia

The beautiful thing about making lasagna in aluminum loaf pans to freeze... is the rainy night when you can pull one out and have "homemade" dinner without lifting a finger.

Tonight is that night.

Mission Accomplished!

After six hours of baking on Saturday, four hours of decorating on Sunday, recruiting Spencer to sift powdered sugar and help with load after load of dishes... operation mega-huge-red-velvet-baby-shower-cake was a success! { And a blast, too. }

The actual cake recipe got more compliments than just about anything I've ever made, so more to come on that later.  But in the meantime, I thought you might like to see how it came to be.

First... the batter.  Five whole batches.  And when they say "red velvet", they mean "red" { whoever "they" are }.  We're talking about an entire one-ounce bottle of food coloring per batch.

{ I heart my KitchenAid. And was glad I went for the 6Q bowl. }

And batter batch numero uno went to make cupcakes.  Portioning with a 1/4 cup measuring cup makes for even results every time.  And using foil baking cups means that the dark batter won't show through after baking like it will with standard paper ones.  { Chocolate cake has that same issue, too.   But you knew that because red velvet is chocolate.  The Great Cake Debate continues. }

After the cupcakes, I went for the actual cake layers - two 12" and two 9".  Portioning with an ice cream scoop here ensures that each layer has the same amount of batter... and thus they end up the same thickness.  It's hard to see here, but each pan is also lined with wax paper on the bottom while the sides are just greased.  You're guaranteed that the cake won't stick!

In addition to the two 9" layers, I knew that I wanted the top of the cake to be curved like real hydrangeas would be.  I could have baked a third 9" layer and carved it into the dome shape, but I've never attempted cake carving before and this seemed like a high-risk time to learn.  Instead, I poured an inch or two of batter into my largest glass bowl and hoped for the best.

It worked like a charm.  But then between 24 cupcakes, two 12" layers, two 9" layers and a domed layer, I ran out of cooling racks and counter space in a hurry.  What's a girl to do?  Use the dining room table, of course.

{ Want these nifty cupcake boxes?  I order all of my packaging from B&G Paper Products. }

Now for the fun part.  Watching it all come together.  Let's start with the 12" layers.  First, the crumb coat.

Then, rose by rose, it starts to look more like something worthy of the occasion.

A few more roses, straws stuck in to support the weight of a second tier, top it off with a 9" round to account for the other cake, and it's back to the fridge to set.

The process is similar for the hydrangea layer.  A blue crumb coat sets the stage.

{ See that great little dome? }

Then blue and purple frosting go side-by-side in a piping bag...

... and a few little hydrangeas start to take shape.

The more the merrier.  Almost there!

Finished and in the fridge.

At this point I was getting really, really excited.

I had Spencer drive like an old man all the way to work.  He knew his name would be mud if he took a curve too quickly or stopped short and the cakes got smushed.  But we made it!

And it was pretty tasty, too. : )  Witness the aftermath.  Spencer's sure glad I saved four of the "ugly" cupcakes for us to eat here at home!

It was a lot of work, but it was really fun to watch it all come together { and somewhat resemble the inspiration }.  Now the only thing left to do is decide what to make with the leftover buttermilk!