It's official - my kitchen is starting to show signs of wear and tear, which means State Fair competition must be close! I've made two dishes this week, so I'm making a little headway! This week I did one item that I've known from Day 1 I wanted to enter, and the other is one that I completely geeked out over and HAD to make asap!
First was Red Velvet Cake. I hadn't made it before, I don't even really know if I've eaten it that much before, but I enjoy making the occasional cake so I knew I'd enjoy it. I used a Paula Deen recipe for Southern Red Velvet Cake and a less traditional frosting to go with it. Everyone swears that Red Velvet is supposed to be made with a cream cheese frosting, but I've heard from other cake connaisseurs that that isn't necessarily the case. Before cream cheese burst onto the scene, back in the "olden"days (no idea how "old" that is - could be the 50s or the 1800s for all I know) a simple style vanilla frosting was used. Well I came across a rather interesting vanilla frosting recipe titled "That's The Best Frosting I've Ever Had," so naturally I had to see if it lived up to its name. It uses flour and granulated sugar, as opposed to the usual powdered sugar. When I made it, I couldn't quite figure out if I liked it or not - it tasted good, but not in the usual sweet way of buttercream or cream cheese frosting. The consistency was AMAZING, though - perfect for spreading onto a cake, so I decided to go ahead and use it.
My three Red Velvet layers looked beautiful coming out of the oven. They had baked perfectly even! Unfortunately, I had made a decision that ended up ruining said perfect layers. When I was prepping the pans, I decided I felt like cutting out parchment circles for the bottoms was too much work and that a generous portion of grease and flour would do the trick. WRONG. I went to turn the cakes out of the pans and the bottoms were stuck, so I had to force them out and parts of the bottom came off :( I pieced them together as best I could and wrapped them to put in the freezer (I always try to do this with multiple layers because a frozen cake layer is far less likely to crumble when you frost it). They still looked pretty good when I assembled them, despite the fact I didn't have nearly enough frosting to suffice the layering and covering of the cake. The cake was good but it was a teensy bit on the dry side, so I may opt for a different cake recipe instead next time. I really wanted something with a lot of moisture and spring, so I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for another one. [I just found one that's "naturally" red from beets, as opposed to using dye...might have to try it!]
Next is the piece de resistance...*drumroll please*...
BUTTERBEER CUPCAKES!
Any self-respecting Harry Potter fan is familiar with Butterbeer and the joy it brings to the Hogwarts students. Let me just say, I felt like I was transported from this Muggle world to that of the wizards when I tried these because they are MAGICAL.
Thanks once again to Foodgawker I found this recipe and as soon as I saw it I KNEW I had to find a class to make it for. I was sure they'd taste at least pretty decent, but they exceeded my expectations. They have the perfect amount of butterscotch among the ganache and the frosting, not overly sweet or too overpowering. The cupcakes are a nice dense texture, with the flavor enhanced by the butter flavoring (a great way to get buttery goodness without all the calories!). But the real star of the show is the frosting. It's a pretty typical powdered sugar frosting, except that part of the butterscotch ganache is added. Between the powdered sugar and the ganache, the consistency is a beautifully dense frosting that isn't too heavy. It's super easy to decorate with because it holds its shape like no other frosting I've ever seen. I will post pictures soon!
The next step to create the cherry on top for these bad boys is none other than a Golden Snitch on top! I just need to go get some fondant (I'm too lazy/scared to make my own) to be able to do it effectively. I plan on taking malted milkballs, rolling fondant around them, spraying them yellow with a food spray color and then dusting them with edible gold pearl dust to create the body. As far as the wings...I haven't quite figured that out yet. I'm thinking either white chocolate or sugar decor wings. It's gonna take a little experimenting, but I think it will be worth it!
Overall, I'm on a pretty good roll right now. I'm doing some MAJOR garage-saling tomorrow in hopes of finding some kitchen equipment, utensils and cool dishes to aid me in the next few weeks. I could go buy it new in the store, but why spend more money than I need to?? A good deal of grocery shopping is also in store for me in the very near future. All in all, keeping busy and LOVING it!!!
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