There’s something about making birthday cakes which always causes me to break out in a cold sweat. Since it’s a cake for a special ocassion, there’s a lot of pressure not to mess it up. Per birthday tradition, it was time for me to make a cake for the Englishman, and this year he requested red velvet birthday cake.

I’ve never made red velvet cake before and normally my cakes turn out to be more like quick breads, but I was down for the challenge. I ordered special cake pans, got all-natural food coloring, and consulted my baking guru Karla for moral support.

With my game face on, I scoured the internet for red velvet birthday cake recipes and finally decided on this one from Real Simple Magazine.

After getting my cakes ready and in the oven, it was time to tackle the frosting.  I was initially going to go with a buttercream frosting, but I didn’t allocate enough butter, so I went with a simple vanilla frosting recipe instead.  Martha Stewart has never steered me wrong, so I went with her recipe.

The cakes came out perfectly cooked (although not as red as I hoped due to the natural food coloring) and after letting them cool for a half hour, it was time to frost.

My frosting skills are pretty amateur, but I figured the cake was going to be covered in birthday candles anyway, so if it was a little uneven, it wouldn’t be the total end of the world.

Then came the official taste test.  Would the birthday boy like his cake?  I’m happy to report that he declared it was one of the best cakes he’s ever had.  Red velvet birthday cake success!

I’ve included the cake recipe below in case you want to make this cake yourself.  It’s very easy to follow and the end result is a delicious, moist (I know) cake.  Traditional red velvet calls for cream cheese frosting, but I think the vanilla worked perfectly.

Red Velvet Birthday Cake (from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk

Vanilla Frosting Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cashew milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a separate bowl using a stand mixer or hand mixer beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Slowly add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until well combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean for 45 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15-30 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make your frosting. In a small bowl, beat together butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy.

Transfer one of your cakes to a plate and spread with frosting. Place the second cake on top and spread the remaining frosting on the cake. Serve and enjoy!

Now that I’ve conquered this cake, I’m ready to try another one.  What should I bake next?

And just like that we are back from France.  Expect some recaps on the blog soon, but let me just tell you that it was amazing, the food was fantastic, and I even tried chicken liver for the first time (and didn’t hate it!).  But first let me tell you about a new-to-me paleo bar I tried before I went on vacation: Mammoth Bar.

I know what you are thinking – another paleo bar?  But hear me out, cause these bars are the jam.  And unlike some other bars out there, Mammoth Bar uses more unique ingredients like dried egg white protein and baobab (which is a superfruit loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C).

Each Mammoth Bar also contains raw sprouted nuts, dates and spices, making them the perfect protein packed snack or breakfast on the go.  The bars come in four flavors: Almond Vanilla, Cashew Cinnamon, Trail Mix Goji and Coconut Macadamia.  And I loved each and every one of them.

One issue I have had with some paleo/protein bars in the past is that I’ll eat one and will feel hungry 30 minutes later.  This definitely wasn’t the case with these bars.  In fact, I ended up packing all 4 bars in my travel “snack pack” and even had a Mammoth Bar for breakfast when we were en route from Paris to London and wasn’t starving on the short flight over to England.  If that isn’t a testament to how good these bars are, then nothing is.

Each bar is packed with about 10g of protein, and all of the sugars come from natural sources like dates and coconut.  Right now you can only order Mammoth Bar online, but I’m hoping they will pop up in some local stores soon!

A big thanks to the Mammoth Bar team for introducing me to your tasty bars! I’ll definitely be ordering more of these in the future.

Paleo Bar fans: what bar is your fave?

At this time next week the Englishman and I will be eating and drinking our way through France, and what better way to prepare for all the amazing French food than with some Pain D’Epices aka Honey Spice Bread.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been pouring through David Lebovitz’s blog and cookbook
and making a list of all of the French dishes I want to eat.  Steak frites s’il vous plait.

This honey spice bread is made with all-purpose and whole wheat flour along with a generous serving of honey and spices.  But don’t let the honey and spices fool you; the texture of this is definitely more of bread than a cake, and isn’t very sweet at all.  If you are looking for a dense bread with a bit of chewiness to it then this bread is for you.

Gluten and I aren’t exactly bffs at the moment so the Englishman enjoyed this bread and loved it.  Vive la France!

Honey Spice Bread (adapted from My Paris Kitchen)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Melt your honey, brown sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes, then add 1 cup of your all-purpose flour.  Stir together and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk your 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and baking soda together.  Gently fold in your egg and egg yolk.

Add your honey mixture to your dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Pour your batter into your loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Remove your bread from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes.  Lebovitz recommends slicing the bread the following day and serving at room temperature.