Lovin' From the Oven

Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Welcome to the first phase of hell week.. week 5.. midterms week. Compiled of late nights & early mornings, iced coffee & donut runs, procrastination & perseverance, every student is relieved once they see the light at the end of the tunnel (the end of week 5). Crazy to say, this is the last set of midterms that I’ll ever be taking! That alone makes me overcome with joy. I’ve prepared myself and created blog posts to keep my blog up to date while I’m out writing numerous papers for school this week. Ironic how that works- how I procrastinate so much on school work but don’t procrastinate when it comes to baking. I guess that’s why they call it a passion.

Alright let’s be honest here.. I’ve been searching for a moist, light red velvet cake recipe and still have yet to find it. I have a folder in my bookmarks solely dedicated to numerous red velvet recipes that I’ve stumbled upon across the internet. Going down the list, I’ve been testing and checking each recipe one at a time, never being able to put that huge star next to the title. All of the recipes that I’ve tried have just been “meh” and unimpressive. I’m on a mission to find the perfect red velvet recipe… so if you have it, let me know! 🙂 Everything that I’ve tried just doesn’t compare or even come close to the ones sold in bakeries. I was really disappointed in these cupcakes so I didn’t bother piping on the frosting. I just slathered a chunk on and let it be. As for the cream cheese frosting, it was just okay in my book. I’m sticking to my cream cheese frosting on my carrot cakes. I’ll post the recipe just in case you guys want to tweak it or give it a go for yourselves.

Recipe from The Repressed Pastry Chef:

Allison’s Amazing Red Velvet Cupcakes
adapted from the NY Times Red Velvet Cake recipe

  • 1c cake flour
  • 1/3c cocoa
  • 1/2tsp salt
  • 2/3c vegetable oil
  • 3/4c sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1oz (2T) red food coloring (I used red food gel by Wilton)
  • 1/2tsp vanilla
  • 1/2c buttermilk (I used the milk & vinegar method)
  • 1/2tsp baking soda
  • 3/4tsp white vinegar


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line12-cupcake pans with cupcake liners and spray with cooking spray.
Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time.
With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring (and water or syrup, if necessary). (Take care: it may splash.)
Add vanilla.
Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
Divide batter among 12-cupcake pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Em’s Magnificent Cream Cheese Icing
adapted form the 06/98 Epicurious.com Cream Cheese Icing recipe

  • 1 8oz pkg of cream cheese – room temperature, divided in three parts
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter – COLD
  • 1 tablespoon shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup powdered sugar


Directions
Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and combine very well. Add the first third of the cream cheese and combine very well. Add the shortening and combine very well. Add the remaining cream cheese one piece at a time, combining very well after each. Gradually add the sugar and combine thoroughly until light and fluffy.

Cheesecake Brownies

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Talk about baking on a scorching day. 97 degrees.. Really, southern California?! We skipped spring and jumped right into summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love southern California weather… just not when I’m at my apartment with no AC and the sun beams down through our window all day. Total bust. While on my way back to my little sauna of an apartment today, I was stuck in horrible Westwood/LA traffic (isn’t LA the worst?!?) and watched beautiful baller cars pass me by. Then I got to thinking… what are my top 3 dream cars? All from different price ranges? After long deliberation, I compiled my list:

1.) Price Range $25,000-$35,000: Mazda RX-8; I’ve loved this car for basically as long as I can remember.. since about 9th grade when it made its first debut.
2.) Price Range $35,000-$45,000: Audi TT Roadster; no words needed.
3.) Price Range $45,000+: Nissan GTR; alright so maybe that’s a little more than 45K.. but hey, we can all dream, right?

What’s your list of top 3 cars that you long for?

Alright enough dreaming & wishing and back to reality.. When I make brownies, I always use my go-to recipe. I’ve used this one for about a year now and haven’t bothered finding a new one. Why change something that’s perfect? I use the same brownie base for all my brownies, and tweak it as necessary. Sometimes I add nuts, sometimes I add some mint extract and Andes chunks, sometimes I add chocolate chips, and sometimes I swirl it with a cheesecake batter. This time, I baked it in a glass 8″x8″ pan because I wanted my brownies to be fudge-like rather than crispy. When baking in a glass pan, you have to let them bake for about ten minutes longer, depending on your oven.

The brownie recipe that I used can be found at my previous post HERE, but I’ll repost it here with the modifications for cheesecake brownies.

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8″x8″ pan. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well. Pour into greased pan.

For the cheesecake swirl:

  • 8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar (you can use 1/3 cup if you want it sweeter)
  • 1 egg

Beat the cream cheese and sugar mixture together. Mix in the egg until creamy. Drop by dollups on top of the brownie batter and then swirl using a knife. Bake for 50-60 minutes (mine took about 65 minutes before being completely done).

Cookie Mailing List! & Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

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I’ve seen this recipe popping up on tastespotting and foodgawker recently, and I just knew that I had to try it. The cake looked SO moist and delicious, how can I pass up on that? I got this recipe from The Food Librarian, but many other food bloggers have made this cake as well. I think the original poster was Vintage Victuals. Anyways, I added a little (okay, a lot) more cinnamon than recommended, but I think it was too strong. Stick to the original recipe! I also upped the vanilla, and you can never go wrong with that. The cake was just about the moistest cake ever with all the liquids in it. Amazing! I baked it in mini bundt cakes, therefore lowering the baking time. I topped it all off with a dash of powdered sugar on top.

Good news! I decided that I’m going to start my cookie mailing list up again since I have a lot of free time and will be available over the summer now. Why? Well, I HAD a job for the summer working at an outdoor camp in Lake Tahoe, but I recently got an email from them nearly three months after being hired saying:

“Dear Kim,

____ and I had a long chat today about camp, staffing, and enrollment. Unfortunately, the enrollment numbers for this season are down — much more so than when we looked at them closely about a month ago. To my great regret, we must withdraw the job offer you and I have discussed — counselor and activity specialist.

You seem to be a very bright, hard-working, and personable person, and I’ve no doubt you will find success wherever you choose to seek it. If our enrollment numbers change, we will certainly contact you to find out if you still have an interest, and are available to work with us. But in any case, we sincerely thank you for the time you’ve spent in seeking employment with us. We wish all the very best in your future endeavors.

Very best regards,
_________” (the name is bleeped out cause that’s just mean. i’ll leave the director and the camp name anonymous)

Uhhh… total low blow! They told me three months after being hired, meaning I’ve already turned down another camp job offer and two interviews. Now, it’s much too late to apply for positions at summer camps so I’m at a loss for summer. Talk about a sucky economy. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Anyways, this means I’ll have more time to bake this summer and keep up with my mailing list. If you’re interested, keep on reading!

COOKIE MAILING LIST:
What is it and what do I get? Home baked goods by me mailed to your house every month! A different treat each month, sometimes a variety. You will be guaranteed AT LEAST 18 cookies, usually more. You can find an example of what you’ll be getting at this post HERE (the cookies, not the cupcakes)

How much is it? A mere $15/month will cover your cost for shipping and supplies (only available to residents in the US.. sorry! Mailing baked goods internationally just doesn’t seem like a good idea)
Where do I send the money/Who do I pay?
You can pay me via paypal by clicking the link here:




I also take concealed cash/checks, just email me for the address on where to send it to. For May’s mailing list, I’ll need the payment by April 30th.
When can I expect the baked goods? I will bake and ship the first week of every month. I will only bake the cookies and send them out the same day! That way, they’ll stay fresher.

**Please let me know if you have any food allergies/ingredients that you absolutely despise so that I can avoid them for your batch, along with the address to mail the baked goods to and your email address so I have a way to contact you. Don’t forget to let me know if you have any favorites that you are dying to have!

Don’t hesitate to throw me an email at kim@lovintheoven.com if you have any questions. Thanks again!

Recipe:
1.) Bring 1 c water, ½ c oil, 1 stick butter and ¼ c + 1T (or 5 T) cocoa powder to a boil and then adding it to a 2 c flour, 2 c sugar and ½ t salt mixture. Add in ½ c buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup milk with a 1/2 tsp vinegar) and 1 t baking soda.
2.) Mix 2 eggs, 1 ½ t cinnamon and 1 t vanilla in a small bowl and combine with batter.
3.) Bake in a bundt at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pan.

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