Cardamom Shortbread

After my disappointment with the Red Velvet cupcakes, I knew this one would be a hit. I had made this as actual shortbread wedges years ago and people liked it. My gamble this time was how to make them bit-sized. I decided to bake it in a round pan and then, while it was still a bit warm, use a round cookie cutter to cut mini shortbreads for the tea party. It paid off and they were just the right size. I will definitely keep this recipe to use both as a true shortbread wedge as well as a cookie option.

Cardamom Shortbread

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 t. vanilla
2/3 c. flour
1 t. ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in oats and vanilla. In a small bowl, sift together flour and cardamom. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Press into a greased 8-inch round shortbread mold or a 9-inch round cake pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife. Invert onto a cutting board. If necessary, tap edge of pan on cutting board. Cut warm shortbread into wedges. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes 6-8 servings.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I wanted to make some Red Velvet cupcakes for my sister-in-law's baby shower tea party, but of course I had to test out the recipe first. To be honest, I have never actually tasted Red Velvet cake before, and in my mind it was moist, a bit chocolaty, and had creamy white frosting on it. I searched far and wide for a traditional Red Velvet cake recipe. What I found was that the traditional frosting was not the modern cream cheese frosting, but rather a cooked vanilla frosting. I even found one site that declared that her recipe was the best frosting ever and that you would never use any other frosting on a chocolate cake again!! I was tempted.

I decided on Paula Deen's Red Velvet cake recipe, and to use the "Best Frosting I've Ever Had" recipe. The result was disappointing, for me at least. The cake was too dry and dense, the frosting was not as sweet as I am used to, but came out smooth. I won't replace my traditional butter cream frosting again on a cake. I love the reliability of box cake mixes, and will probably use those from now on. I was tempted to try another recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes that added some chocolate ganache for more moisture, but ran out of time. Some friends told me that Red Velvet is not meant to be moist, and is less sweet compared to other cakes. Here are the recipes.

Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake

2 c. sugar
1/2 lb. butter, room temperature
2 eggs
2 T cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 t. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking soda
1 T vinegar

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture, mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Best Frosting I've Ever Had

5 T flour
1 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens (almost like a brownie mix). Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla. While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat well, until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.

Chocolate Mousse

It seems I am starting off the new year with a couple of failed recipes!! This was another vintage recipe that failed big time. It was more like an ice cream than a mousse. It calls for a "refrigerator tray", which I think might be those old-fashioned metal ice cube trays with no dividers. Of course I don't have any of those, so I used a cast-aluminum griddle instead. I also made a mistake with the whipped cream, getting a bit lazy and buying the spray type rather than whipping it up myself. In the end I don't know if that made any difference in the final product or not. My other recipes were better mousse recipes. I did learn that Ghirardelli makes a product called "ground chocolate", which seems to be a combination of ground chocolate and cocoa. It has the same consistency as cocoa powder, but might have other ingredients.

Chocolate Mousse

1 c. Ghirardelli's ground chocolate
8 T powdered sugar
2 c. rich milk (I used half-and-half)
small can evaporated milk
2 t. vanilla
4 t. gelatin
6 T cold water
1 c. sugar
1 pint cream, whipped

Mix ground chocolate, powdered sugar, and milk; scald, take off stove and add both gelatin to which cold water has been added, and the cup of sugar, stirring until entirely dissolved (about 3 minutes)l add vanilla. When cold and ready to set, add whipped cream and put into refrigerator trays and freeze. This makes a generous serving for 8 to 10 people.

Hollandaise Sauce

This was a truly disappointing Hollandaise sauce. It was a vintage recipe, that was too lemony and the paprika was not the proper spice. I added too much salt, too. At least the consistency stayed smooth for me.

Hollandaise Sauce

3/4 c. butter
2 T lemon juice
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 t. paprika

Melt one third of the butter in the top of a double boiler, stir in lemon juice and beaten egg yolks. Place over hot water, cook slowly, beat constantly using wire whisk. Add one half of remaining butter, beat, add rest of butter. Beat until mux==ixture thickens. Remove from water. Add seasoning. If sauce should separate, add hot water by teaspoon and use rotary beater.