
I have made Gluten-free Red Velvet Cake before. Once I even made it for the engagement party of a dear friend. Layers of chocolate flavored cake, colored with red coloring, alternating with tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting. It was always delicious but a little too sweet for my taste. During my review of library books I stumbled upon Layered, by Tessa Huff, and found a recipe that called for heritage frosting instead. This frosting is made with butter and flour briefly cooked on the stove and then cooled, before being added to fluffy butter and granulated sugar mix. It’s delicious and only slightly sweet, and it compliments this cake perfectly.
Every time I discover a book or an author that I like I end up getting all their books. This has been my pattern since I was a kid and I read Fontamara by Ignazio Silone for the first time. My parents can tell you about my shopping sprees, buying books by a specific author, reading them all until I was done. Ignazio Silone, Italo Svevo, Daniel Pennac, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Agatha Christie, and many others. Once my passion for baking became a profession, the pattern entered the culinary world. Gesine Bullok Prado, Joanne Weir, Tish Boyle, Dorie Greenspan … and now Tessa Huff. I bought Layered after borrowing it from the library, and now I am saving for her next, Icing on the Cake. She is incredibly talented in her combination of classic flavors and modern twists. The recipe I am sharing today is an adaptation of her red velvet cake. The only disappointment I had, when I made her frosting, was that I didn’t have enough to cover the cake to the extent shown in her picture. One of my pet peeves is a recipe that doesn’t give everything needed to replicate the cake as portrayed. So I will increase the dosage here for you. The picture you see is without the increased dosage, so the external coat didn’t cover the red velvet cakes entirely.
ENJOY!
Thank you for sharing, Simona!
Always a pleasure Chris!