Red Velvet Devil's Cake

SECRET INGREDIENT: tomato juice

Think of this as a red velvet cake crossed with a rich devils food cake. The secret to the cakes moist crumb is nothing other than tomato juice. The acidity of the tomato balances the deep flavor of the chocolate.
Quick look

prep 25 min cook 22 min
serves 12

Ingredients

CAKE 1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1 cup tomato juice

FROSTING3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners sugar

How to make it 47 minutes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two round 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray then lightly dust with some flour.

For cake, sift together, twice, the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at time, scraping down the bowl in between. Beat in the vanilla and food coloring until well-combined.

With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture and the tomato juice in three alternating additions until well-combined. Divide the batter between the two baking pans.

Bake on the center rack of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for frosting, combine the butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, beat on high speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the vanilla and the confectioners sugar until smooth.

To assemble, place one cake layer, flat side up, on a platter. Spread 1 cup of the frosting over the top of the cake. Top with the second cake layer, flat side down. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Cut into 12 wedges and serve.

Save time
This easy cake can be made up to 2 days before serving if wrapped with plastic and stored in the refrigerator. To keep the frosting from sticking, use a few toothpicks inserted into the top and sides of the cake to keep the plastic wrap away from the cake. Let the cake stand for 1 hour to come to room temperature before serving.

Sue

These are on the menu for tonite. I'm subbing herbed goat cheese for the blue cheese though.

Crispy Buffalo Chicken Roll-Ups (Taste of Home)

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 cup crushed cornflakes

Flatten chicken breasts to 1/4-in. thickness. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with blue cheese. Roll up each from a short side and secure with toothpicks.

In a shallow bowl, combine pepper sauce and mayonnaise. Place cornflakes in a separate shallow bowl. Dip chicken in pepper sauce mixture, then coat with cornflakes.
Place seam side down in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Discard toothpicks. Yield: 4 servings.

I'm always on the lookout for new ways with chicken. This one sounds good--I'll cut back on the spicy, though.

SWEET AND SPICY CHICKEN AND RICE (Coupon Clipping Cook)

2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Honey
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Barbeque Sauce
1/2 cup canned Coconut Milk
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
2 Green Onions (cut in 1 inch-size pieces; both the green and white parts of the onion)

Rice:
1 cup Basmati Rice
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1/4 of a Red Onion
1 cup Water

Rice:
Remove the seeds from the jalapeno pepper (unless you prefer more heat). Dice the jalapeno pepper and the onion. Add the rice, jalapeno pepper and onion to a rice cooker pan. Next add a cup of water to the rice cooker pan and start cooking the rice.

Chicken:
Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Heat a skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the chicken to the skillet and stir the pieces around in the olive oil. Next add the red pepper flakes, ground black pepper, honey, soy sauce, and barbeque sauce to the chicken. Then stir all of the ingredients together. Stir in the coconut milk. Cook the chicken a few more minutes and then the rice should be just about ready.

Assemble:
Add the cooked rice to your serving dishes and top with the chicken mixture. Garnish with the sesame seeds and cut green onions. Serves 2.

I've never used coconut milk. What flavour does it add to the dish?

Jasdip, coconut milk adds just a hint of coconut to the sauce or soup. Remember the soup you had at my place? It had a whole can in it.

Apple cinnamon finger sandwiches

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup apple butter
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 slices cinnamon-raisin bread
Instructions
1.In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, apple butter, mayonnaise, and cinnamon; mix until smooth.
2.Spread equal amounts of the mixture evenly over the bread slices.
3.Cut into squares and serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve.

Jasdip, I've been using it a lot lately. It started with Luckygardnr's mashed sweet potato recipe :-) It doesn't add an overwhelming coconut taste. I use the brand "Thai" organic. Nothing in it but the coconut milk itself. It's rather thick so shake the can really well before open it. I could just drink the whole can it's so good! You can whip it, too. (If you don't shake it.) A lot of Thai recipes use it.

I just found this so I haven't tried it. I have it in the recipes links page when you need it.

Snow Cone Syrup Recipe

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 .22 ounce (these vary in weights by brand) unsweetened powder drink mix (koolaid or generic type)

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat. DonâÂÂt allow mixture to boil for longer than a minute or your syrup will be too thick. Allow to cool. We used a funnel to put syrup into a recycled bottle.

Here is a link that might be useful: snow cone syrup recipe