Alpha Bakers -- Rose Red Velvet

I have a complicated relationship with Red Velvet cake. I don't get the hype, but I love gratuitous food coloring, and I never turn down cream cheese frosting (or whipped cream, which is this recipe's garnish of choice. Red Velvet and I have agreed to disagree, and I usually just enjoy the fact that I get to make such a recognizably pleasing cake that holds a special place in many other people's hearts. In this case, the Rose Red Velvet as written takes the concept of RED to a bigger, better place. 

First of all, bundt pans are amazing. Second, NordicWare makes some bundt pans that really impress, and usually all I have to do is pull a cake out of my Heritage bundt (or, in Rose's cake, their rose bundt) and people think I'm a baking genius. 

In this case, however, the baking genius bought some crappy off-brand baking spray at Pathmark and the results were...unimpressive. 

I don't do cake pops, so folks at work were forced to be unimpressed with a container full of scraps. They were dutifully underwhelmed. I did do another run, though, with some modifications (ran short on baking powder, glazed with the reduced syrup of Trader Joes' cherries), and the look was much finer.  The texture didn't suffer too much from the low baking powder addition (and can we talk about the fact that I ran through a container of baking powder in about two months), but I also ran low on food coloring so I couldn't get that glaring artificial red. Consider this the entirely artificial organic beet juice look. Next week's cake is called the 'Double Damage Oblivion.' I'm sure it's a spare little cupcake.

Heavenly Cake Bakers: Rose Red Velvet

Just a little red velvet cake, chilling out at work.

Most people who know me know that my personal dessert pantheon looks something like PIE! CUSTARD! FRUIT! COOKIES! ... cake. Every now and again, though, I get a strong urge to bake and frost something tall, fluffy, and all-American. Red Velvet cake, while not my favorite, fits the bill perfectly, with the additional perk of being covered in cream cheese frosting, which I prefer over buttercream. I have made Rose's white chocolate cream cheese frosting before, and found it a little grainy and thin. For this batch, I used a recipe from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, a shelf staple at my house.

I made this little fella and took it to work last week, where messy as it was (I undershot the confectioner's sugar quotient needed for the frosting), it was appreciated.