#Sweet Wednesday is back and today I am thrilled to introduce to you a gem of a find!
Foods and Moods – a Facebook page which is my go-to page whenever I am in need of food inspiration, or when Matt is in for a treat.
The lovely lady behind Foods and Moods has kindly agreed to join us today and share with us her pièce de résistance.
The recipe of her Red Velvet cake.
Let me assure you that it is to die for! I had the pleasure (lucky me!!) to eat a piece of this delectable cake made by the fair hands of Foods and Moods.
Please let me introduce you to Foods and Moods, who was super kind to satisfy my curiosity by answering a couple of questions:)
How was the idea of the FB page Foods and Moods born?
Food is one activity we do on a daily basis, whether we buy it, prepare it or eat it. So no wonder that it has become second nature to many of us to snap away with our phone camera and post photos of foods on plates and platters. It’s a way of sharing with our friends on websites and social networks. I like this idea but I wanted to go a step further than just sharing what I consume. I wanted to share the idea that being mindful of what you eat is also being mindful of how you feel and that what you eat really becomes you. So the idea of the facebook page Foods and Moods was born.
What can we find on your FB page?
A quick browse at the page will reveal an eclectic mix of posts, photos and videos of simple ideas of dishes which you can prepare quickly with basic ingredients. I am a fan of starting a dish from scratch in many cases and I avoid tinned food, ready-made meals and frying. So I am constantly looking for fresh basic ingredients to make simple healthy dishes that do not need a whole afternoon to cook.
Where can we find your recipes?
One section on Foods and Moods page is called Notes where one can find, up to now, some 99 recipes, some savoury and some sweet, which I have tried and tested at home. I tend to be on the side of the less sugar the better so I consider sweet foods as a treat and not eaten everyday.
Any special treats which you are loving recently & which you would like to share with us?
Lateley I discovered the joy of smoothies and juicing of fruits and vegetables and I am making the most of them as a snack instead of indulging the sweet tooth. But I am aware that we cannot go without the odd creamy cake every now and than, on special occasions. For these special days I nearly always turns to my theatrical-looking red velvet cake.
It’s rather time consuming to make but is definitely worth the while because it is a cake that rewards you in taste and looks.
- 150g butter, softened
- 300g caster sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, separated
- 250g plain flour
- 25g corn flour
- 2tbsp cocoa powder
- 1tsp baking powder
- 250ml buttermilk *
- red food colouring, about 2 tsps
- pinch of salt
- 1tsp white wine vinegar
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Butter 2 cake tins and line the bases with greasproof paper.
- Cream the butter in a large bowl or in a food mixer until soft.
- Add the sugar and beat some more until it is light in colour and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract followed with the egg yolks, one by one, and beating well after each addition.
- Sieve the flour, cornflour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl, mix and set aside.
- Add the food colouring with the buttermilk. It should be very red, so if you think it needs more colour add another teaspoon or so.
- Now put one third of the sifted dry ingredients (flour, corn flour etc) and one third of the buttermilk in the butter and egg mixture and mix well until everything is incorporated.
- Continue combining a third at a time of each of the wet and dry ingredients until you have used up all of the mixtures. Set aside.
- Next whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until you achieve stiff white peaks.
- Now combine the stiff egg whites to the batter mixture a third at a time, using a metal spoon so you retain as much air as possible in the final mixture.
- Lastly, in a little bowl combine the bicarbonate of soda with the vinegar until it bubbles up, then gently fold this into the batter.
- Quickly pour the cake batter into the prepared tins and smooth the tops.
- Bake ** in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- When they're ready leave them for 15 minutes in the tin before you transfer on to a wire rack.
- Let them cool well before you sandwich with cheese frosting and then top with frosting.
- * I make my own by combining 200ml of milk and the rest with fresh juice of a lemon
- ** If you put one cake tin in the bottom shelf and the other on the top shelf you find that the one on the top will cook faster than the bottom so make allowances for that.
For the white frosting and the cheese frosting for sandwiching, here’s what you need:
- 2 egg whites
- 250g caster sugar
- 50g golden syrup
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100g of mascarpone cheese
Method:
- Put a bowl on a pan of simmering water (bottom should not touch the water) and in the bowl combine the egg whites, sugar, golden syrup, salt, cream of tartar and water.
- Bring the water in the pan to a steady simmer.
- With a hand-held electric whisk or a normal whisk (the latter will take more time), beat the mixture until you have a shiny, satiny soft peaks.
- Remove the bowl from the simmering water and continue to whisk for a further 2 minutes.
- It will get stiffer and then put in the vanilla extract.
- Then take 3 dollops of the frosting and mix in the mascarpone cheese and combine it well.
Use this mascarpone-frosting to sandwich the red velvet cake and use the rest of the normal frosting to cover all the cake including sides.
Thank you Foods and Moods for sharing with us your favourite cake recipe.
It was great having you!
If you would like to discover more recipes, or are in a dire need of food inspiration (I always am!), I invite you to visit & LIKE Food and Moods FB page. Be sure that you will be inspired to try one of her recipes – here’s a couple of recipes from Foods and Moods which I tried and gorged:)
- Soup: Carrot and curry soup (An all time favourite!)
- Sweet: Turkish Delight (Tried once & never again – my waistline screamed with pain!! BUT worth each bite!!!)
- Dessert: Strawberry Tiramisu (Perfect for dinner parties)
- Drink: Lavender Lemonade (Love it all year-long!)
- Dressing: Basil Vinaigrette (Finally no basil is wasted & my salads have been upgraded from bland to appetising – No joke!)
