Red Velvet Cake

Because I prefer not to dwell on what are likely to be utterly abysmal election results in Israel's national election Tuesday...

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In the spirit of Valentine's Day and Ruby Tuesday and Hapoel Tel Aviv and all things red, I give you:

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Red Velvet Cake

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My thoughts:
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Recipe: (see above link for the full recipe) While the batter started out quite red, the finished product was a much more sedate reddish-brown. I did use gel coloring instead of liquid (as per the gel option in the recipe), but the gel is pretty potent stuff so I doubt that was the reason. Whatever the color, it was delicious. Rich, but not overly heavy, and the cream cheese frosting was divine. If I make it again I'll stop at two layers though, and use the rest of the batter for cupcakes - that third layer looked very elegant, but it made the cake ridiculously high.

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Decoration: I'd intended to stick a fondant rose on the top of the cake but forgot to get one. Luckily our GNI hostess with the mostess had a perfect pomegranate just sitting on her counter waiting for my cake to come along, and the idea that we use it. It was a stroke of brilliance, the slight tartness of the pomegranate was a great balance for the sweet frosting.

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Proof that the batter really did start out red

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And the kicker? I'm on a diet - out of this entire cake I only had three bites! I've still got leftovers on my table and I am very steadfastly not eating them. Sheesh.

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