American Baker in Germany

 This was a request from my fan, Nathan, and my colleague, Anna. So, I decided to go over every step. Let's start with the cake. Red Velvet Cake: 2 cups (450 mL) buttermilk 2/3 cup (150 mL) oil 1 tbsp vinegar 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar 3 tbsp cocoa powder 1 tbsp vanilla extract dash salt 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 cups (250g) flour red food coloring The nice thing about this recipe is that you just add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix them together with a whisk. The batter will be quite thin.  Add to greased and lined cake pan and bake at 350°F or 180°C for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you've ever wondered why red velvet cake is red, it's historical. Around the time the recipe was developed, cocoa powder was refined with alkali, which reacted with vinegar to make a mild red color. Today, cocoa powder is no longer refined this way, so the red color can't come from a chemical reaction. We have to use food coloring...

This birthday cake is for my boss's birthday at work. She didn't want anything specific. She only requested that it not look like a child's cake. I can handle that. I started out with red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting.  I crumb coated the cake.  And while it was chilling, I colored some cream cheese frosting black.  Worked immediately.  Then I got out a small round tip and a medium star piping tip.  And put both of them in piping bags with black buttercream. Then I frosted the cake again. I didn't want to see the cake through the frosting.  I'm also using gold and white sanding sugar.  Ironically, I couldn't find my Happy Birthday press, so I used Best Wishes instead.  You can't see it very well, but I pressed it into the middle of the cake.  And I traced around it with black buttercream.  Then, using the star tip, I piped a shell border along the bottom of the cake, and a few evenly-spaced sw...

This cake was for a colleague who loves red velvet cake. She asked if I can make her a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Of course! But just for fun, let's decorate it. I've decided to use a technique called brushed embroidery. It seems to fit me as well because I sometimes embroider. I started out with a new recipe of red velvet cake. I'm not super excited about this recipe, so I will share the recipe when I find one I'm in love with.  Then I whipped up a batch of my cream cheese frosting. It was a very warm day, so I it was quite soft.  I filled the cake with frosting.  Then I crumb coated the cake. And chilled the cake for half an hour to let the frosting set up.  Then I frosted it again and chilled it again.  Then I colored some frosting with pink food coloring.  I used a decent amount.  Which made it quite bright pink.  Then I put it in a piping bag with a small round piping tip.  Then I got ou...