The Tastebud Diaries: Mini Sweetheart Red Velvet Cakes

HAPPY VALeNTINeS DAY!!!

Zoe, Me and Rachael

Today I had two of my best friends Zoe and Rachael over to help me make some amazing tasting sweetheart red velvet cakes! The flavor was so rich and wonderful. It was my first time I have ever had Red Velvet cake and I seriously don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat any other flavor. We had a great time baking and personalizing (and I DO mean personalizing) our mini cakes. We definitely had some ups and downs. Between Zoe “heart attacking” me, an egg mishap and teaching Rachael how to pipe frosting, I’d say it was one of my favorite baking experiences ever!

Afterwards we had a major sugar rush…but that’s ok, what can you expect from 3 teenage girls :-)

Hearting the history

No one knows exactly how the Red Velvet Cake recipe got out to the public. There is one urban legend however. The story started in the 1920’s. It was also about the time the recipe began to circulate. The cake started in New York at the Waldorf-Astoria hotels restaurant, and as the story goes a lady was visiting New York. She ate at the Waldorf-Astoria and had the cake for the first time. When she got home she wrote to the chief asking for the recipe. They sent her the recipe along with a bill for $350. She was so mad she made copies of the recipe and distributed them everywhere she went. This is why red velvet cake will sometimes be referred to Waldorf-Astoria’s $200 cake. This story has never been confirmed.

Sweethearts have been around since the early 1900’s created by the Necco Company. They came in larger sizes and various shapes compared to today’s small hearts. On them, things were written such as “Please send a lock of your hair by return mail,” or “How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate.” Over the years the sayings have become shorter, as the candies have gotten smaller. In 1990, the Necco Company decided to add a new saying each year. Millions of kids and adults send in ideas for what the new saying should be. The sayings may be constantly changing but the recipe is identical to the original one!

Lets get cookin'

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cans of vanilla frosting

Assorted food coloring

1.) Preheat oven to 350°F

2.) Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

3.) Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

4.) Beat in eggs, one at a time

Egg mishap :-)

5.) Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla.

6.) Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended

7.) Put into a well greased 9x13 pan and back for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

8.) Let cool for about 10 minutes then put in freezer for 15 minutes.

9.) Using a cookie sheet flip the cake out from the pan

10.) Use a heart stencil made out of paper and cut around the cake. You can make smaller bite sized cakes with left over scraps

11.) Separate 1 ½ jars of frosting into 3 different bowls and dye with your choice of color.

12.) Heat each bowl in the microwave for 25 seconds (you may need to reheat if the frosting gets stiff)

13.) Take the heart shaped cake and dip the best looking side in the frosting or use a spoon and drizzel over the cake. Flip up and wait for 15 seconds and dip again.