Red Velvet Cupcakes

Just for Matt...

Red Velvet Cake with Creamy Vanilla Frosting

Makes 3 9 inch layers or 36 cupcakes

3 1/2 c sifted cake flour

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened

2 c sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 oz red food coloring

4 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/2 c buttermilk

1 1/2 t apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 t baking soda

Prepare yourself- this recipe requires a lot of bowls! But it will definitely be worth it in the end. 

Preheat the over to 350 F. Grease and flour 3 9 inch pans lining the bottoms with either parchment or wax paper. Sift the flour, measure, and then set aside. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until very fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time scrapig the bowl after each addition. In a small bowl mix the food coloring, cocoa powder and vanilla together. Add to the batter and beat well. In a separate small bowl mix the buttermilk and salt together. In alternating sequence add the flour and buttermilk to the batter scraping the bowl after each addition. Do not over beat. Finally, in one more small bowl combine the apple cider vinegar and the baking soda and then add imediately to the batter. Beat until very smooth. 

Divide the batter between the three pans. Smooth the top of the batter a cook for approximately 30 minutes or until the center of the cake tests clean. Set aside to cool. And frost when completely cooled with my creamy vanilla frosting (I know some people prefer cream cheese- but I swear by this frosting!). 

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

makes 1 lb. Depending on your frosting needs, you may need to make 1.5 batches

5 T flour

½ cup milk

1 cup butter, soften

1 cup super fine white sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Blend 5 T four and ½ cup milk over low heat until it get thick. (It will look like very thick, old time, school paste. Basically a blob) Set aside to cool.

Cream 1 cup butter, 1 cup super fine white sugar until smooth and glossy. Add 2 tsp. vanilla. Add thickened flour mixture and beat well.

This frosting is a little tricky and can separate and the results look very disgusting.  Don’t over beat your butter but make sure the sugar is incorporated.

PS: Blob is a new and upcoming culinary term. It is all the rage. 

Happy Eating! Enjoy!

Kara

'Nuff Said

  This photo pretty much sums up how awesome I feel right now. Originally created for Martha's first marathon- I feel that it is appropriate to use again.

After an incredible weekend of trail running with Matt (who ran his furthest this weekend in his life - 15 miles!!!!) I took one day off and decided yesterday to run today (Tuesday). Well- I woke up to snow. Snow isn't usually bad but it generally means that I will be hitting the gym that day. But today it seemed so magical and peaceful. So I decided to run outside. It was awesome- but I would definitely not advise it. By the end of the run I was swearing up and down while the pretty little snow flakes felt like tiny individual toothpicks pelleting my face.

Needless to say- I PR'd on that route and was super excited to get back to my office. Although I wanted to hide my red blotchy face- I felt pretty bad ass.

Love is...

A chocolate hazelnut Charlotte filled with a vanilla bean Bavarian cream drizzled with 66 percent dark chocolate ganache and topped fresh strawberries- all created specially for Ms. Danielle in celebration of her birthday. Happy Birthday. 

PS- Yes the cake made me a little weak in the knees. 

PSS- since it is a little complicated I have decided not to post the recipe. If you really want some I will make it for you. And if I can't make it for you I will then send you the recipe. 

Happy Eating Everyone! 

Peace and Love, 

Kara

15.6 miles of Pain

Well I think that the inevitable is going to happen. I thought that I would have this blog be "just" about baking but since I began weaning myself off facebook I think that I need to talk about the 4th love of life. Let me remind you what the ranks are: Matt (I will also throw the rest of family in this rank to avoid any hard feelings), Friends and Dog Friends, crazy super awesome plant science stuff, and then running. Yup- that means that baking is number 5. I am a little surprised by that too!

Over the weekend I managed to rope Matt's bromance into running 10 miles with us. He exercises regularly but he hasn't run this distance before. Needless to say he impressed the H-E-double hockey sticks out of me and ran 11 miles with us like it was no big deal!! Wow-zahs!!

So now that he has exposed me to his natural ability to run I am trying to rope Matt and bromance into doing a 25k with me on April 3rd.

I have been eyeing this event for the past month and the pictures are simply breath taking! And by judging from the elevation gains - they will also be breathtaking!!

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the stadium stairs. It will leave me sad-looking and sweaty but if I am going to conquer these climbs I need to start kicking my butt!! And if you are at all interested in checking out this spectacular event check out this blog that is created for advertising these incredible trail runs:

http://yakimaskylinerim.blogspot.com/


Alright- until next time!

Peace and Love,

Kara

Sigh

Even Miss Lilian Pearl misses the Cake Bible. Soon my dear, soon.

As promised...Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Whether you are vegan or simply have run out of butter and eggs this is the recipe for you! I managed to piece this together one evening when I had a craving for cookies and a huge desire to bake. I guarantee you that you have every ingredient in your pantry to whip up these delicious and surprisingly soft vegan cookies! 

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

makes approximately 24 small cookies

1 ripe banana

1/2 c peanut Butter

1/2 c sugar

1 c flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl "cream" the sugar, a smashed banana, and the peanut butter until smooth. In a separate bowl whisk the remaining dry ingredients together for approximately 30 seconds. In batches combine the dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Chill the batter for 1 hour. Using two small spoons shape and scoop the cookies onto a parchment line baking pan.

Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. 

These cookies are best the day of. I would suggest eating them slightly warm with a cool glass of almond milk- Enjoy!

Happy *vegan* Eating!

Vegan Challenge 2011

Hello Folks! Well January has quite possibly been one of my busiest months and a lot of changes have been made! As you can clearly see- no picture for this post. Part of the reasoning for this is that over two weeks ago while drinking a beer and eating some french fries with our friends Christopher and Danielle we found ourselves in a conversation about vegan diets. Soon enough we were all signing our signatures on the back of a Co-op receipt pledging to eat vegan until Danielle's birthday, February 12th! Oh nelly!

So far so good. But there are some major items that I am missing BIG TIME. Mostly butter and cheese. While there are some alternatives to both- they are simply not the same. I have managed to come up with some vegan cookie recipes which I will share is future posts. But for now I will eat my peanut butter sandwhich and dream of buttercream frosting and quesadillas! Just 10 more days to go until we celebrate Danielle with Boston Cream pie and something smothered in cheese!

Now clearly, I must stop engaging in "challenges" before they get too out of hand! The other challenges that I have committed to this past month have been signing up for my first Ultra (30 miles) with my super amazing family friend Cory! And then the other, longer commitment "challenge" is changing my degree track from M.S to PhD. Whoa Nelly! This last challenge puts my measly 1 month vegan challenge into perspective- small beans compared to PhD.

Well, ultimately my opinion is that it is important to stretch ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally frequently. When we accomplish the unexpected we will truly discover what we are capable of. Try to do something that you are nervous about or have been putting off - you just might surprise yourself.

Peace and Love,

Kara