Red Velvet Find - Amy's Bread
This New Year's I bought a red velvet cake from Amy's Bread. Wow! I have been searching for the perfect red velvet, and I think I've found it. Moist, a distinct cocoa flavor, a delicious icing. This is the best red velvet I have had in NYC. Everyone at my gathering loved it. If you're looking for a great cake, I highly recommend this one.
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24 Comments:
The recipe
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2008/10/24/2008-10-24_amys_bread_owner_bakes_sweet_treats_too_-1.html
I have to make this now.
JerzeeTomato at 7:37AM on 01/03/09
me too, red velvet is the rage -- i've never had it ....but amy's has excellent baked goods....
pooch at 10:22AM on 01/03/09
Thanks for the recipe! I was wondering what was in the icing--as I said, really spectacular. Please report back when you try it.
AnnBe at 10:52AM on 01/03/09
@Jerzee ~ 2009 is going to be my year of trying new things! As I type this, DH is taking rarely used pans downstairs for storage. With a little more rearranging in the kitchen, my oven is getting empty! Woo Hoo! Now if I can keep Eddie calm, I will be able to turn it on. My question; the icing recipe calls for "shortening". Please enlighten me.
izatryt at 11:16AM on 01/03/09
good question, izatryt.
NanaJoie at 11:41AM on 01/03/09
shortening means white vegetable fat, like crisco. i wonder why she uses it? i've never had their red velvet cake, but their cherry cream scones are wonderful.
cybercita at 11:50AM on 01/03/09
Can I substitute shortening?
izatryt at 12:34PM on 01/03/09
Ha Ha! I just have to laugh. Wait until Perky sees this post!!!!!
izatryt at 12:40PM on 01/03/09
Ok people Mama is going to tell you a truth.
I know this may hurt. Cream donuts are filled with crisco.
Yes the white cream filling to twinkies, ho hos, and all white cream has shortening. It has a nice mouth feel. I am sure if you wanted to forgo it you could find a nice Martha or Dorie Meringue Buttercream Frosting recipe.
It will be ok. If you want me to find one just let me know.
My poor babies. And there is no easter bunny, sorry.
JerzeeTomato at 1:44PM on 01/03/09
Jerzee ~ You are being mean to the baking newbie. I actually do not eat any of the foods you mentioned and I have never used "shortening" If I buy it, I can't imagine how often I will use it. I don't want to waste it.
izatryt at 2:01PM on 01/03/09
@ izatryt ~ you can buy shortening (from Crisco) in small enough quantities (little blocks in resealable containers) that you shouldn't end up wasting that much at all. being from the South i've always had shortening around the house. we use shortening in lots of things. most especially my great-grandmother's amazing biscuits. mmm...
vanillapudding99 at 2:20PM on 01/03/09
lots of people use crisco -- i will occassionally use it in a pie crust ... but i'd rather just eat cold cream on top of a cake than eat crisco in an icing...
but i know it's done every day....
pooch at 9:57PM on 01/03/09
After being a vegetarian for many years, I can definitely taste when animal shortenings are used in baked goods--I was offered a cream-filled snack cake while babysitting, broke it open (like I used to eat them when I was a kid) and took a nibble to be polite. Ugh! It wasn't just the sweetness, it actually tasted 'meaty' to me in a bad way.
They do make vegetarian shortenings, often in small quantities, and I have heard that butter is an acceptable substitute. Something you might also want to consider is a cream cheese icing for red velvet cake, which I've often seen.
You know, I've never had red velvet cake, although I've had devil's food cake, which I've heard is basically the same thing, minus the food coloring (I guess it depends on the recipe). I wonder if anyone makes it at home without the food coloring--food coloring has always kind of grossed me out, to be honest, like the way they used to dye pistachios red--as I kid I always remember being upset to see the 'regular' and the dyed kind, and uncharacteristically for me as a child wanted the natural sort that didn't stain the fingers.
HeartofGlass at 7:48AM on 01/04/09
i just treated myself to shirley corriher's book bakewise. she actually recommends butter flavored crisco for certain recipes, saying it tastes better than actual butter. normally, i believe everything she says, but this time i refuse.
cybercita at 12:20PM on 01/04/09
i can't believe she's gonna use the oven. this is something i gotta see.
dearrie at 12:27PM on 01/04/09
I promise I will take pictures!
izatryt at 12:51PM on 01/04/09
oh goody.
dearrie at 1:00PM on 01/04/09
Oh iz, you absolutely have got to take pictures!!! Have you decided what your first project would be? Cake, biscuits or roasted potatoes? Do let us know!
brooke29 at 1:07PM on 01/04/09
I am still trying to decide. I do not want be feel overwhelmed the first time. After that upside down hazelnut whatchamacallit from last year, I curled up into the fetal position and cried.
I am leaning toward cookies because I have baking sheets. I don't have much in the way of baking utensils. Imagine that.
izatryt at 1:26PM on 01/04/09
I'd probably go with something like banana nut bread - it's easy, fast, pretty much fool-proof, and requires very few baking utensils (a bowl, a couple of measuring cups/spoons and a whisk or hand mixer will do the trick). But whatever you do - good luck and keep us posted! You get extra bonus points for trying!
brooke29 at 2:11PM on 01/04/09
well butter and shorting are not ALWAYS interchangeable. Just remember that butter melts more then shorting so like in frosting and things you need to work faster if using butter. In some cookies it calls for shortening but I only use butter and it doesn't seem to matter. Biscuits often use shortening.
banana bread is a good idea like brooke29 said, nice and easy!
love2cook at 4:38PM on 01/04/09
Heartofglass-
Crisco is not animal shortening- most baked goods made with shortening are made with vegetable shortening. Lard (animal shortening) is used rarely these days, and probably never in commercial products. Some people like the meaty taste of lard, in say, an apple pie crust, but I am a butter girl myself, occasionally adding a little Crisco (directly substituted for some of the butter) in pie crust.
spicegirl at 9:40AM on 01/05/09
Back to talking about Amy's cake. I've had it and thought it wasn't very good actually. The frosting when I got it was not even a cream cheese frosting, but some kind of whipped cream/sugar. I was NOT impressed. I agree it's difficult to find good red velvet in the city. Amy Ruth's used to be exceptional but it has fallen off in the past year.
bsouthgirl at 9:47AM on 01/05/09
Hmm--@spicegirl--I didn't know that about Crisco! However, I'm pretty sure that quite a few commercial snack cakes do contain animal fats, like Hostess cakes and Oreos used to.
HeartofGlass at 11:41AM on 01/05/09