Four-Layer Red Velvet Chocolate Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

In honor of the return of the most bizarrely lovable mass-murderer, i.e. Dexter, I naturally decided to bake an aptly colored cake. Enter The Red Velvet Chocolate Cake, a vibrantly colored classic delight. Great for the holiday's, celebrations, or as a stunning after-dinner centerpiece to sweetly finish-off any dinner party. 

You will need two 9 inch round cake pans lined with wax or parchment paper and lightly greased with butter. Wire Cooling racks and tin foil or plastic wrap are also needed. 

Red Velvet Chocolate Cake

• 2 1/2 cups Cake Flour, Sifted
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Milk + 1 Tbsp Distilled White Wine Vinegar (pre-mix and let sit)
• 2 Tbsp Red Food Coloring
• 1 tsp Distilled White Wine Vinegar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda

*Begin by preparing your cake pans and preheating your oven to 350 degrees.                  

*In a medium bowl, combine the sifted flour, the salt, and the cocoa powder. Set aside. 

*Using a hand-held mixer or a KitchenAid, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and continue mixing until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is being equally combined. 

*In a separate bowl, whisk the pre-mix of milk and vinegar with the food coloring. Return to your butter mixture and slowly add the flour mix and the red mix, alternating between the two, and beginning with the flour. Whisk on low until well combined. 

*In a small cup, add the baking powder and vinegar and allow to fizz. Mix into your batter and immediately transfer to baking pans. Divide the batter equally among the pans and smooth the top with a baking spatula or wooden spoon. 

*Place in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks for 30 minutes. After approximately 15 minutes remove the cakes from the pans and continue to cool on the racks. When entirely cooled, wrap in tin foil or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour but preferably overnight. 

Mascarpone Frosting

• 8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 8 oz Mascarpone 
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 Tbsp Shredded Coconut 

*Using a hand-held mixer or KitchenAid, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone until soft. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar, mixing well. Fold in the whip cream and then whisk lightly until frosting is thick and creamy. 

To Serve: Using a serrated knife, slice the cakes horizontally to create four layers. Place one layer, bottom up on a serving platter and frost the top. Stack the next layer on top, pressing the frosting between the two pieces, and frost the top of that layer. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of shredded coconut between the second and third layers. Repeat until all four layers have been stacked and frosted. Now frost the sides, spinning the plate to create a smooth, polished finish. Top with the remaining tbsp of coconut and decorate however your heart desires! 

Press crushed pecans into the sides of the cake, top with fresh raspberries or strawberries, speckle with sprinkles, spell out your lover's name with decorative icing, or even make a particularly disturbing design for a television show premiere; the finishing touches are up to you!

Enjoy :]

<3Marea



 *This post is linked to Mangoes and Chutney's for Fat Camp Friday
   

How to Make the Perfect Cheesecake: With a Bonus Sugar-Free Alteration!

For a dear friend's birthday I recently received a request for a Cherry Cheesecake. Eager as always to get into the kitchen I took him up on said request and after getting off work at my "real" job last Saturday night I immediately came home and compiled a shopping list. Since two of the guests in attendance were going to be none other than the beautiful souls who gifted me my KitchenAid I decided that multiple cheesecakes were in order. I now had a new challenge: Kind Soul #1 not only declared Cheesecake to be his utmost favorite dessert, but he had also recently taken very ill and developed diabetes, expanding my mission to also create a sugar-free, Diabetic-Friendly dessert. What started as two cheesecakes, turned into five cheesecakes and around midnight Saturday I was pulling the final one out of the oven!

Now most Cherry Cheesecake recipes use some form of canned "Cherry Pie" filling. After a particularly terrifying interaction with the ingredient list (High-Fructose Corn Syrup!) and the calorie count (12 servings per can, 250 calories each!) I decided to stay far far away from Cherry Pie Filling and venture down a different path to cheesecake bliss.

How to Make the Perfect Cheesecake

For the Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs, finely ground
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1/4 cup Butter, melted

For the Filling:

• 20 oz Cream Cheese (2 1/2 packages)
• 1 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Corn Starch
• Lemon Zest from 1/2 of a Lemon
• 1 large Egg
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
• Maraschino Cherries, sliced in half
• 2 quarter pieces Hershey's Chocolate Bar, grated
• 9 inch baking pan, or Springform Pan
• Classic Sour Cream Topping: 
• 2 cups Sour Cream
• 1/3 cup Sugar 
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a small pan full of water on the bottom rack. (This will keep the cake from cracking and is referred to as a "Water Bath").  

*If you are using a Springform Pan, remove the bottom and cover with aluminum foil. Spray the edges with vegetable oil, or rub your pan down with butter and lightly flour. In a food processor blend your graham cracker crumbs into a fine dust. (Or you can buy them pre-crumbled to save time!) Mix the crumbs with the sugar and butter and form to the bottom of your prepared pan. 

*In a mixer or a large bowl, blend the cream cheese until soft, scraping the edges frequently to remove chunks. Add the sugar and continue mixing. Add the cornstarch and grate in the lemon zest. Mix well. Add the vanilla and the egg, mixing well between each addition. Slowly pour in the cream, blending on low until creamy. Be careful to not over blend or turn the speed too high as this will cause the cream to solidify. Over-mixing can also cause air bubbles to form which are evil culprits of Cheescake crackage! Your mixture should be light and fluffy. 

*Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. To keep your cake from cracking it is crucial that you resist the urge to open the oven door while it is baking. The water bath will create a nice humid atmosphere that should keep your cake safe from cracking. Your cheesecake is finished when the edges are puffy, yet set, and the center still has a slight wiggle!

[*If you are going to make the Sour Cream Topping: Mix all ingredients a few minutes before the cake is complete. As soon as you pull it out of the oven, pour the mixture over the top and immediately return it to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.]

*Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. Run a sharp knife along the edges before cooling. After 2 hours transfer the cake to the refrigerator and let set for 8 hours, or even better- overnight. 

To Serve: Remove the cheesecake from the pan, carefully using a sharp knife and a spatula to free the edges. If the top has cracked, don't worry! You can always cover the cracks with topping or serve your cake upside down! Line the perimeter of the cake with the sliced maraschino cherries, and fill the center with a layer of grated chocolate. You can top the cheesecake any way you'd like; fresh strawberries or raspberries, melted white chocolate, or even go classic and glaze it with the Sour Cream Topping.

*Sugar-Free, Low-Fat, Diabetic-Friendly Alterations*

• Follow the same steps but replace all sugar with:
• Stevia, Equal, Splenda, or whichever sugar substitute you prefer
• For the filling only use 1 cup of sugar substitute rather than 1 1/3 cups. 
• Use Margarine instead of butter, and low-fat Cream Cheese
• Top with Sugar-Free Strawberry Fruit Filling or Glaze

I had extra batter so I pressed some graham cracker crumbs into buttered tart dishes and made mini cheesecakes with the excess mix. Feel free to have fun with the toppings and if you'd like, save some for later by freezing it. Just double wrap in plastic-wrap and pop in the freezer for up to 2 months!

Enjoy :] 

<3 Marea

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake with a Fresh Strawberry Glaze

When Strawberry season rolled around my mother showed up at my doorstep with a box full of red juicy sweetness.

"Do something with these. Your dad went a bit overboard at the strawberry stand on the corner," my mother said, pressing the giant box into my open arms.

"Okay, but I am coming to raid your fridge," I replied.

One refrigerator scavenger hunt later, I set off back to my kitchen with an armful of ingredients and a mind set on making something sweet. Instantly Strawberry Shortcake sprung to mind, but with half a carton of blueberries, and 2 Meyer lemons, I had something more exciting on the brain.

What developed was a fun twist on the classic dessert.

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

• 3 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp Milk
• 1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 cups sifted Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Granulated White Sugar
• 13 Tbsp Butter
• 1 cup fresh Blueberries
• Lemon zest from 2 Meyer Lemons
• 1- 9x5 inch loaf pan, lightly rubbed with butter or vegetable cooking spray. 

*Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine all of the "wet" ingredients using an electric mixer. In a separate bowl combine all of the "dry" ingredients. Slowly blend the two bowls into one, mixing on medium speed. 

*Using a cake spatula (or a wooden spoon) scrape the half of the batter into the loaf pan. Scatter the blueberries across the top of the batter and then sprinkle the grated lemon zest on top. Reserve a small amount of zest for garnish and set aside. Finish with the remaining batter, rounding and smoothing the top of the cake as your pour. Bake for approximately 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool. 

*If you are not big on baking you can streamline this process by using a boxed pound cake mix, adding 1/4 cup of sugar, the blueberries, and the lemon zest. 

Fresh Strawberry Glaze and Whipped Cream

• 1 carton Fresh Strawberries, rinsed and sliced.
• 1/2 cup Cane Sugar

*Here's the easy part- Simply slice the strawberries into a bowl and sprinkle them with the cane sugar. Cover and store in the refrigerator while the Pound Cake is in the oven. The sugar combined with the cold will cause the strawberries to "sweat" and produce a divinely delicious glaze with minimal effort on your part! 

*You can now chose to use a can of pre-made whipped cream or mix up your own using:

• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tbsp. Confectioner's Sugar

*Combine the ingredients and beat with an electric mixer or whisk until soft peaks form.

To Serve: Slice the Pound Cake and top with a large spoonful of the strawberry mixture, and a generous dollop of whipped cream. As a finishing touch sprinkle with the lemon zest and place in front of a salivating audience. 

<3 Marea