Red Velvet Birthday Cake

Ah, red velvet. I have yet to post my recipe for that so that's exactly what I'll do here. I've tried many recipes of red velvet and have sorta written my own. Weird, eh? I'm turning Canadian now. Let's move on to the recipe:

1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp
2 C sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C unsweetened cocoa
2 T red food coloring
2 C APF
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 C buttermilk, room temperature

Preheat: 350 degrees F

1. Cream butter & sugar together.
2. Add eggs 1 at a time.
3. Add cocoa, food coloring & vanilla extract.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder & salt together.
5. Add flour mix and pour in buttermilk. Not too long.
6. Mix baking soda/vinegar together then fold it into batter.
7. Bake for 25-30mins.

Makes 2 layer 9in cake.

Cream Cheese frosting

8oz cream cheese
5 C powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all that wonderful goodness together-- add a tablespoon of milk to obtain the consistency you want.


I heart my rv recipe. I'm not going to claim it's the best... but... it's the best. So shush. Don't judge and let me indulge in this. You should indulge too. Try my recipe... let me know how it goes!

I made this cake for a little girl named Noel. It was her 11th birthday. She has a cool name. And NOOOOoo I'm not just saying that because it's my name too... I spell it differently but we still have the same level of awesomeness ;)




Do you see that pretty lady below? That's my BFFF. She's getting married in a few weeks and I thought I'd share some of the bridal shower pictures with you :)


I made flower center pieces for the tables. We used them for decorations then as party hats. Well not really but we like to think that they're better as party hats.


This was taken during one of the wedding shower games, making a wedding dress out of toilet paper. My partner in crime was my bestfriend's older sister. We were eliminated the first round because, according to the bride, ours didn't have enough fabric. I liked it. Can't please everyone, I guess.


The big day is March 19th. Oh and guess what I get to make... any body? any guesses? .....

anyyyyy........... bodyyyyy?

Ok, ok I'll tell you.
Her wedding cake!

So from now until then...

I'll be googling, measuring, making a list (and checking it twice--- er ummm it's not Christmas and I'm not Santa but that's neither here nor there..), let's say I'll make more than one list and will be sketching tons of pictures... It will be my first wedding cake so I'm pretty excited. There's stacking, dowels, large layers and lots of testing my patience involved.

It's gonna be a crazy ride... go buy your ticket so you can ride with me. Oy, what is this a carnival? Well my kitchen will be in the next coming weeks.

Stay tuned.
-- Noey

Cupcakes and Crutches

Happy Holidays! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as I did! As you know one of my friends had her wedding the day after Christmas and she asked me to make her cupcakes/cake. 230 cupcakes and 1 baby cake. Everything was a hit! But boy was it a journey to the finish line. Without further adieu:



I think the stand came out beautifully! Thanks Dad for the help :) The flavors the bride chose:

cupcakes:

white cake filled with mascarpone kahlua whipped cream frosted with kahlua cream cheese
mocha frosted with frangelico (hazeulnut) buttercream
red velvet cake frosted with vanilla cream cheese frosting

cake:

6" red velvet cake frosted with vanilla bean buttercream

The bf also made a little video on the day of the wedding. It's cute. There's music so turn up your speakers! Check it out:



So as I was saying, it was a huge journey to this finish line. Let me explain. The bf, my cousin and I went snowboarding the day before Christmas Eve. It was the most BEAUTIFUL DAY.



it was sunny, the snow was powdery, my runs were perfect. I'm not a beginner and not really a professional so ya. I know how to carve small and big. I just don't know how I ended up like this:



and how the binding that ripped out of my board ended up like this:



SO, the diagnosis is that my left knee is sprained. I have an appointment with a specialist on Wednesday but YES I did bake, frost, setup and goto the wedding with the bummmed knee. Insane. I know. Tell that to my poor knee. I seriously wouldn't have made it without the help of my mom's ginormous, cupcake making oven, my brother who diligently helped me with everything during the baking process, my dad for the stand/driving me around town while it rained cats and dogs bc someone *ahem*the bf*ahem* forgot all the butter at our house, and my loving bf for pretty much being my legs/purse holder(for him this is a huge thing. he totally detests holding purses)/driver/cook/my everything during this whole fiasco! OH OH, and big thank you to Lucky's grocery store for being the only store open on Christmas Day that actually had UNSALTED BUTTER. I wouldn't have made it through all this crazy baking madness. Thank you. I love u all.

With all that said I think if I had a dollar for every time I wanted to cry during the cupcake madness I would be filthy rich. But when everything was assembled and I saw the bride & groom's face, it was all worth it. I felt very touched to be included in their special day and wish them the best!!

If I had a choice to do it all over again, I think I wouldn't. haha Just kidding. I would if it weren't the day after a major holiday. With every experience I learn a lot about my techniques, recipes, what works and what doesn't. I've taken away a lot from this experience and wouldn't change any of it. Well like I said earlier maybe just not after a major holiday ;)

x O X o,
Noey