Red Velvet Cupcake

I have been wanting to make red velvet cupcakes ever since I saw an article about it in the New York Times a few months ago. And the cupcakes are everywhere, from bakeries to bbq joints to fancy hotels. I love the look of this eye catching, vampy cupcakes/cake topped with generous cloud of cream cheese icing. The amount of red food colouring that goes into this cake can be alarming but it is beautiful when it comes out of the oven.

Today is my friend Allison's birthday and it was the perfect opportunity to make it - she is buckets of fun and a touch vampy when she wants to be - this is the cupcake for her. If I could find the right recipe..I had misplaced the New York times article and surfed the net and finally found a recipe at a reputable blog site. I printed the recipe and carefully followed the instructions. The colour did not look right even before it went in the oven. 20 minutes later, I pulled the cupcakes out and the colour was off and the cupcakes were tasteless. Why would some one put up a recipe that did not work and boast it was the best cake recipe EVER? Is it just for the sake of posting? The whole thing tasted like crap and ended up in the garbage bin.

I trolled the web right away ( you see I was determined to make red velvet cupcakes for Allison, how hard can it be? Just have to get a good recipe from a reliable source) I did find the recipe that I was looking for from New York Times. It is from Elis Strauss of Confetti Cakes and bingo, I was on my way.

It turned out beautiful, it had the right colour and everything. I whipped up some cream cheese and topped the adorable cupcakes with sweetened coconut. And Allison loved it!


Red Velvet Cake

1 Tb butter
3 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cup canola oil
2 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 Tb ( 3 oz) red food colouring
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk ( I used low fat and it was fine)
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans if using or if you are making a cake, flour 3- 9 inch pans. Set aside.

Mix self raising flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. If your cocoa powder is clumpy, make sure you sieve it before mixing it with the flour.

Whisk oil and sugar in a bowl till well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add food colouring and pure vanilla extract into the oil and sugar mixture. Add flour alternately with buttermilk in 3 stages.

Mix baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl before adding it to the cake batter and mix till well combined.The batter will be runny. Pour into prepared cake pans or lined cupcake tins and bake 45 - 50 minutes for the cakes and 15-20 minutes for cupcakes.

Tofu with garlic chives

It has been while since I've blogged. This summer has been crazy and I have been away lots. I had only a few drafts up my sleeve and was able to post when I was on the road. Then I got back from my big trip and and slept for what seemed like ages! When I was finally ready to sit at my computer and type away my computer crashed!! B was de-fragging the beast and it just packed up. And my best friend, the camera BROKE! It fell and cracked..I was riding with B on his Harley and he wanted me to take a few pictures of the ride and I dropped my camera when we hit a bump ( Lady Liberty Ride that is held this time every year in New York). All this happened in the span of 24 hours...well, one can't expect to live a charmed life...

I have been cooking quite a bit since I got back and I must admit, it has been nice to be in my kitchen. I have some recipes that are ready to be blogged. So keep reading!

I was at the Union Square Farmers' Market and Chinatown last weekend (with the dim sum mafia) and I could not stop myself from buying all the beautiful vegetables..especially in Chinatown. The sight of dark green long beans, ridge gourd, snow peas and garlic chives brought back memories of my mom's cooking. So I bought all the above mentioned vegetables - items of nostalgic homesickness.

My mom's version of this dish is a bit more austere, a bit of onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper and that was it. It was delicious!

Tofu with Garlic Chives
1 package firm tofu cut into cubes( I used 12 oz packet)
1 bunch of garlic chives, washed and cut into 2 in length
3 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 Tb salted soy beans
4 Tb stock (I used vegetable stock)
1 tsp sugar
2 Tb oyster sauce
1 1/2 Tb peanut oil

Heat oil in a wok till hot. Saute minced garlic till fragrant. This does not take long. Add cubed tofu and gently stir. Let tofu brown a bit and then add garlic chives. Stir in rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and serve.
Salt is not added to the list of ingredients here because I found this dish did not need it. However if you are not using salted soy beans, you could always add salt to taste.

Lemon Rosemary Cake

I love to make sweet and savoury dishes with herbs from my garden. This is the season for out of control herbs! It is wonderful how the unique flavour of each herb is able to elevate the humblest of dish. B also loves lemon anything....This was for him to enjoy while I was away.

Lemon Rosemary Cake
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tb lemon zest
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 lb unsalted butter
pinch of salt
6 eggs -room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tb fresh chopped rosemary
2 tb milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I used one 9 inch cake pan and it will make a deep cake. You could use a bundt pan, muffin cups or two 9 inch cake pan. Butter and flour the cake pan that you will be using. Shake off excess flour from pan. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 5-7 minutes. The mixture should be pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice to the mixture.
Reduce speed and add sieved flour, salt and baking powder slowly. Once the mixture is smooth and free of lumps, add milk and chopped rosemary. Pour in prepared cake pan and bake in the middle of oven till cake is done. It should take around 55 minutes.

Cooling down

I am posting this from the beautiful island of Langkawi, Malaysia. This is our last day here and we were supposed to go island hopping but cancelled due to pouring rain... The sights here are fantastic!

This post is not a new post, I drafted it right before I left. This is my meal of choice when the mercury rises. Haru Hana is one of my favourite places to go for sushi in Westchester. The sushi and sashimi are super fresh and the price is hard to beat. I found this place by accident when we were in Irvington for the Bruce Cockburn concert ( B is a fan, I just tagged along) last year. Haru Hana is located at 35, Main St in Irvington, New York, phone number (914) 479-1688.