Culinary expeditions, episode one

I didn't end up making David's birthday cake as patriotic as the one I posted last time. Instead, I took a more traditional approach:

I decided, since it was to be my first attempt at baking a cake from scratch, that I should start by mastering the classics before I start to get too kitschy. I was terrified by the idea of the colors not turning out, and ruining the whole concept! Luckily, thanks to a whole lot of food coloring, my batter looked promising!

Although all recipes are practically the same, my recipe was adapted from bakerella. I did a little research on red velvet, and against my southern Grandmother's advice, I searched specifically for recipes using canola oil instead of butter to make for a more moist cake. I tweaked bakerella's recipe slightly by mixing the baking soda and vinegar separately and incorporating it into the batter RIGHT BEFORE popping the cake into the oven. I hear this is a crucial step and, as a sucker for urban myths, I was terrified my cake wouldn't turn red if I didn't do it.

You can imagine my horror when the timer went off and I fetched my cakes from the oven, not looking quite as 'firetruck red' as I was expecting. As I was frosting the cake, I kept my fingers crossed (when they weren't in the bowl testing the delicious cream cheese frosting) that the inside of the cake would be more red.

The whole time I was at the gym, I couldn't help but think about my red velvet cake just waiting to be unveiled. Would it be red? Would it be tasty? Is David going to like it? Needless to say, I tried to burn as many calories as I could so that I could justify this indulgence. Luckily, my sweaty four mile run on the treadmill paid off! The cake came out bright, firetruck red and it was delicious!

           

The cake turned out even better than I imagined! This was my first attempt at a 100% made from scratch cake, and I have to say I'm impressed with myself! The cake was moist and decadent, and although I sort of failed when it came to making "manly" frosting, I think I did pretty well for an amateur cake decorator! The Birthday Boy was happy and that's all that matters, right?

Singing to a music major is just as nerve wracking as you'd think, especially when caught on camera!