Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

by Brian on July 27th, 2010 in Dessert Digest,Recipes No Comments

For Valentine’s Day, Suzen and I made a scrumptious red velvet cake that you can check out at:

http://www.cookingbythebook.com/blog/recipes/valentines-day-red-velvet-cake/

We devoured the cake in two nights, felt awful about our uncontrolled addictions, and planned to indulge in more red velvet. And by chance, we were looking at the Food Network Magazine and found this treasure: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

For her culinary outward bound teambuilding events in New York City, this is the perfect dessert. Perfect. Imagine a roomful of lawyers, all nice people mind you, but lawyers who are intense, Ivy-league, and headed upward. They come to cook in our kitchen in Tribeca and what happens when they prepare these whoopie pies? The ties come off, the cuffs are rolled up and these folks are elbow deep in cookie dough and cream cheese for the filling. How do they react? It is all smiles, from ear to ear. Law school is forgotten and the best of childhood is back in their lives. Throwback desserts can restore your sense of wonder. A little chocolate and cream cheese can erase the tightest of tensions.

This dessert is simply magical. There is the dark red color of the cookie, the tenderness as you bite through, the enormity of two separate layers, and, of course, the chill and tang of the cream cheese filling. It’s a big cookie. I mean big. It’s perfectly satisfying to eat only one. Take that from a man who knows few bounds.

Oh, yes, at a recent wedding certain relatives of Suzen displayed similar red velvet addition patterns. So, Cousin Laurie, this one’s for you.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

Yield: 24 really big ones

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• ½ ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ teaspoons apple cider
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Filling Ingredients:

• 10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the semisweet and milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

Whisk the melted butter, sour cream, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring in a bowl until combined. In another bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3 Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in four equal batches, whisking each batch completely before adding the next. Stir in the melted chocolate.

4 Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and smooth the tops with a damp finger. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed, about 7 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Sandwich a heaping tablespoonful of filling between 2 cookies; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Source: Food Network Magazine

Espresso Buttercream Frosting

by Brian on July 15th, 2010 in Cookbook Reviews,Dessert Digest No Comments

I recently posted about a great yellow cake and said it went so very well with whipped cream.

Well, I did find the whipped cream, infused with herbal scents, thoroughly sophisticated. But the truth is, I generally like my cakes frosted. Icing is fine, that thin layer of sugar + something that just coats the cake. But I really crave a deep, thick, rich frosting that smoothers the cake in sugar, flavor color, and texture. Frosting begs to be eaten.

And while chocolate and vanilla frostings will always please, what about something decadently different? This recipe from the book Country Living Great Cakes is just what I crave: a subtle flavor, rich, satisfying, and gooey. It’s a diabetic’s dream.

The source of this recipe, Country Living Great Cakes, is a thin gem filled with cake and frosting recipes that will just delight you. I’m on my third summer of just randomly picking a recipe and enjoying the results. When I skim a cookbook, I try to find the nuggets, those special recipes that just stand out. This frosting is one of those. It will work on not just on yellow cake, but devil’s food, vanilla, chocolate, … It would be a treat if used to fill and then coat a roulade.

So, force yourself to make a cake. And then adorn it with this finishing jewel.

Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Makes 4 cups [enough for 24 cupcakes]

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons boiling water
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 8 large egg whites
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks) softened

Preparation:

Mix the boiling water and the espresso powder in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the egg whites and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer.  Set over, but not touching , a sauce pan of simmering water. Whisk by hand until the sugar melts and mixture reaches 120°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and beat with the mixer set on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the cream of tartar and salt and continue to beat until the mixture is at room temperature. Beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Beat in the espresso mixture.

Source: Country Living Great Cakes