Two Special Cakes
I spied a basket of fresh figs the other day and couldn't resist picking them up. I'd been meaning to try this recipe for a while, and with a half packet of frozen raspberries sitting forlornly in the fridge, there was no better time than now. Jodie's Fresh Fig, Raspberry & Almond Cake from Kylie Kwong's Heart and Soul is the kind of cake I love — dense and slightly wet, a texture you only get from a batter heavy with almond meal. Left overnight, the cake's moisture content improves and you get a fantastic tea cake that makes for a great breakfast slice too.
Red Velvet Cake
I've always been curious about Red Velvet Cake. It's not something you find on the bakery counters here, Singaporeans being partial to more European desserts (except, of course, cheesecake). By all accounts—and by that, I mean from what I've seen on TV (Oprah, The Apprentice—yes, my goggle box diet needs reviewing)—it's a Southern (American) favourite.
Almost luridly red, the cake gets its colour from a good splash (or three) of red food colouring. Although, technically, the reaction between the white vinegar and cocoa powder should be sufficient to render a reddish hue. I can't vouch for the latter since I unloaded quite fair bit of red food colouring into my batter.
The good news is, taste wise, this cake rocks. It is wonderfully moist, tender and light, with the lovely flavour of buttermilk and an almost alkalinic lilt. A swirl of cream cheese frosting is all it needs, making this one of the best cakes I've made in a while.
posted by Annette Tan at 10:45 pm
10 Comments:
The red velvet cake looks really good but the fig cake looks absolutely delicious!
Funnily enough, I'd never even heard of Red Velvet cake before and now you're the 2nd person in as many weeks to be making one (well in a blog format anyway). What is the story behind it? Is there a reason for the red? Love to know more!
AHHH. I scrolled about the page, desperate to find a recipe for the red velvet cakes...my wife will be mad at your for not including it. :)
your description on that fig cake sounds to die for. I have never been game enough to try red Velvet cake. Is the colouring overpowering? if you can, pls share recipe. Thanks.
Hi, I just clicked onto your blog from Kuidaore. The Red Velvet looks good! I noticed that the edges of your cupcakes are quite upright. Do you use a special baking tin? Whenever I use paper cupcake cases in cupcake tins, they tend to spread quite a bit and end up looking very flat, nothing like your tall proud looking ones!
Hi guys
You can get the recipe and the lowdown on Red Velvet Cake from:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html
Ling, I generally have the same problem. I use normal muffin tins and slightly thinner than usual paper cases which I get from a baking supplies store called Ghim Hin at Haig Road. For some reason, certain cakes bake upwards, as opposed to spreading outwards -- not many, but there are a few :-) this being one of them. I'm still searching for straight sided muffin tins so all my cupcakes could stand this tall.
It's great that you've taken time out to do a post on these two lovelies, I especially like the fig and raspberry almond cake, so elegant. I can imagine how therapeutic the experience must have been.
Glorious! Personally, I've never had the guts to try baking a red velvet cake (something about all that food colouring, I guess), but your cupcakes look so wonderful that I find myself wanting to give it a try. The cream cheese icing looks particularly yummy.
Oh thanks for the link to the Red Velvet. I'll try it soon. And the fig cake - so very elegant. Good job :)
Oh so lovely both of your cake especially the red velvet, we are thinking of doing some experiment on red velvet by altering the red colouring to a more natural dye colour, we were thinking of using red dragon fruit. will let you know our findings later! have fun!
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