Serious Eats: Charcuterista's Profile

I just made a Nigella cake that called for adding heavy cream to the cream cheese icing while beating it. Definitely a success, though next time I'm going to try beating the cream thena adding it to the frosting....

Charcuterista at 5:38PM on 02/19/08

From Recipes

Sunday Supper: Chicken Pot Pie

I really like the idea of the phyllo crust. Lots of snappy, crisp layers plus less work than making a pastry crust equals me being much more likely to make chicken pot pie when I crave it...

Charcuterista at 12:07PM on 02/17/08

From Recipes

Essentials: Vinaigrette

I adore this cookbook and just finished making Julia's All-American Potato Salad, which was, of course, luscious. Pop over to my blog for a picture...

Charcuterista at 2:50PM on 02/16/08

From Serious Eats

Weekend Book Giveaway: 'Secret Ingredients, the New Yorker Book of Food and Drink'

Laurie Colwin - reading her always makes me feel better about life in general...

Charcuterista at 11:36AM on 02/16/08

From Talk

What to do with 24 leftover egg yolks?

fresh pasta. mmmm....

Charcuterista at 3:26PM on 02/15/08

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Simple Chocolate Mousse

The chocolate terrine from James Peterson's Glorious French Food. It's like a cross between a flourless chocolate cake and the inside of a dark chocolate truffle...

Charcuterista at 2:28PM on 02/15/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

I doubt the red food color adds to the flavor really, but it's really the whole point of a red velvet cake - the redness. As much as I love red velvet, I don't eat it everyday, so I don't stress about the food coloring. That being said I've only ever made red velvet from a mix, maybe to avoid having to think about the food coloring so much. Maybe this recipe is a sign I should try it from scratch next time...

Charcuterista at 12:27AM on 02/15/08

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Black Bottom Cupcakes

strawberry with cream cheese filling. hands down. but I have yet to meet a cupcake I haven't liked...

Charcuterista at 12:12AM on 02/15/08

From Serious Eats

Des Moines' Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Six hours of bacon-filled activities! It sounds like heaven...

Charcuterista at 12:09AM on 02/15/08

From Serious Eats

Photo of the Day: We Could Sizzle Together

This is the best Valentine I've seen this year. You are right - everything is better with bacon...

Charcuterista at 12:07AM on 02/15/08

From Recipes

Classic Cookbooks: Baked Escarole Torta

That is the worst feeling. I try to only attempt what I have the time/stamina for as well, but sometimes a recipe just defeats your best efforts to wrangle it down. Luckily in this case, it looks like something that would be fabulous the next day, once you're over the resentment...

Charcuterista at 2:19PM on 02/13/08

From Serious Eats

How Can You Make Valentine's Day Fun Without Pressure?

I definitely vote for staying in. As a waitress dating a cook, I am so excited about us both being off this Valentine's - it's never happened before! That being said, we're not doing anything over the top, spending the afternoon in bed with books, cheese and champagne, making dinner and maybe having a game night or watching a movie.

Charcuterista at 1:47PM on 02/13/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

I agree with everyone who prefers the cooked frosting. That's original to the cake. Here's my favorite recipe, if anyone wants to try it:

FROSTING

1 C milk
5 Tb flour
1 C butter
1 C white ugar
1 tsp vanilla

Boil together milk and flour until thickened. Let stand until cool. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add milk and flour mix and beat very well. (The longer you beat it the better it gets.)

smd1227 at 4:49PM on 01/23/09

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

Red Velvet Cake IS a chocolate cake with a reddish color. My late grandmother used to make a red velvet cake and it contained NO red food coloring or beet juice or anything like that. Her recipe has been lost and we haven't been able to duplicate it. It was the best red velvet cake I've ever eaten. Not like todays so called red velvet cakes, with their shocking red color. Her's was red AND chocolate. Wish I could find something akin to her recipe.

PyesAngel at 7:24PM on 12/27/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

That sounds like a lot of oil...a cup and a half. You may need to adjust your baking time. Overbaking can dry a cake out. If you are using dark coated pans, cut the bake time by five or so minutes.

kjjackson at 3:29PM on 12/10/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

Hey can somebody please help me! This thanksgiving I decided to make this much talked about cake. And to my dissatisfaction after three tries I've frosted what appears to be a very dense three layered cake that didnt rise very much at all. The texture is like that of a pound cake, while the flavor is good and there was some moisture, the crumb is dry is this the intended flavor and texture. I made this from a traditonal way with the vinegar and baking soda combination almost identical to the receipe above except my recipe also called for 1 teaspoon of vanilla, a cup and a half of vegetable oil and 20 ounces of cake flour. I had never eaten one before while my guest said the flavor was good everyone thought it should have had more moisture. What could I have done wrong?

ablkmind at 7:29AM on 11/30/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

Chari: Red velvet cake is not really a chocolate cake. Though most recipes include a modicum of cocoa, I've rarely encountered a red velvet with a marked cocoa flavor.

Shunafish: To wit, there was no misinformation here. I made no claims anywhere in this article as to the origins of the red in the red velvet. In a follow-up article to address our readers' questions and comments (http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/02/red-velvet-cake-history.html), I did, however, address those origins. What I wrote in that second article seems largely in line with your own thoughts on the subject (re: old-fashioned, non-alkalized cocoa, etc., though I and my research tend to disagree with the claim that red velvet is a direct descendent or another form of Devil's food cake). Regardless, thank you for submitting the link and for your input.

Pjracz10: Unless there is something very unique about your brother's mother-in-law's recipe, I can't imagine why it would be such a challenge. Seems like you should definitely try it some time - the only thing you have to lose is some flour and time, but it seems that you stand to gain much more. :o)

Amanda Clarke at 12:42AM on 11/12/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

I remember the first ime I had Red Velvet Cake, I was 9 or 10 years old and my brother's mother-in-law made it for the holidays. It truly was love at first bite. It became my favorite cake heads up. My brother's mother in law told me that it was very difficult to make and at times she had to remake it 2 to 3 times over to get it right? Is this something that anyone has heard of, that it has to have this certain texture or consistency or the whole thing is ruined? She gave me the recipe (still have it) but never made it because of what she said.

pjracz10 at 7:49PM on 08/25/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

I really wish a food site as well trafficked as Serious Eats would not continue to advertise mis information.

The origins of the red in this cake come from early American cocoa, not food coloring. The Red Velvet Cake as we know it today is really a Devil's Food Cake in an unrecognizable disguise. Please read further historical information about this cake on the site What's Cooking In America.

While I agree that cakes make with egregious amounts of food coloring, in any color, are shocking to look at, and interesting because of it; I have to, as a baker, call to question, and remind you, the recipe for the RVC of today has no relation to its origins.

This cake that is now fast becoming a trend, is one dimensional in flavor, and not delicious, unless you love white cake that appears red.

shunafish at 12:23AM on 08/17/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

So, is red velvet cake a chocolate cake or not? I don't really know, even though I've eaten in made from a mix a few times.

I remember old recipes using beet juice or tomato juice to add moisture (not really noticeable in the taste) and wondered if that's where the whole "red cake" idea came from.

chari at 1:22PM on 07/09/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

MY OLD RED VELVET CAKE RECEIPE CALLS FOR 1 TSP BAKING POWDER PLUS THE BAKING SODA 2 TBLSP COCOA POWDER
FOR THE ICING 1 8OZ TUB OF MASCARPONE CHEESE ALONG W/CREME CHEESE/ TRY THIS WED ROSES USA

REDROSES at 5:28PM on 06/30/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

This recipe for Red Velvet Cake (a/k/a "Waldorf Astoria Cake") is almost the same recipe as my Aunt gave me fifty years ago! I've been making it ever since, and it is the very favorite cake of all my familly members. This recipe here is missing one ingredient though; that is: one (1) teaspoon of vanilla extract. I also use 1 teaspoon of salt (versus 1/2 teaspoon). If you do not add the red coloring, the cake bakes into an unappealing beige color (because of the 1 Tablespoon of cocoa). The red coloring only enhances the appearance, and you can add enough coloring to go from pink to a dark red cake. It's your choice. Also, I agree with a reviewer who said hold the cream cheese frosting for carrot cake. I always make a good homemade vanilla buttercream frosting. This is the VERY BEST CAKE with a flavor that's hard to explain because it's not a vanilla--nor a white--nor a chocolate--nor a spice cake; it's got a unique flavor of its own.

Linda Lee Miller at 11:25AM on 03/13/08

From Serious Eats