Red Velvet + Cream Cheese = One Happy Camper!

Just let me start off by saying you may want to double this recipe and use a bigger pan. An 8" square of this delectable confection is NOT enough. If I'm going to put myself into a sugar coma, I'm going all the way, so next time it will be a 9" x 13" pan!

I found this recipe for *Red Velvet Cream Cheese Brownies* on Pinterest. It was pinned from The White Library. If you're not *pinning*, you're missing out. It's a fun way to save things you love and find GREAT ideas, recipes, you name it and you can find it on Pinterest! Here's a fair warning, though, it can be highly addictive!

It's a super easy recipe. I didn't have dark *baking* chocolate, so used Hershey's Special Dark candy bars. The recipe didn't specify baking chocolate, so it was just an assumption I made. Anyway, they came out delicious! Mine didn't look quite as dense as the those in the recipe. Mine were really kind of light and fluffy! REALLY good!

I also didn't have an 8" square *metal* pain, so used a round metal cake pan. Not sure that *metal* is crucial or not. So, without further ado, here is recipe...remember, BIG pan! :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 8 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.
2. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
5. To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
7. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.

Red Velvet

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day.  I think it goes back to high school when, if I had a boyfriend, I got dumped right before the big day. Now that I think about it, it wasn't just V-Day, but every other holiday along the way!  I always thought it was pretty crappy for a guy to do that and quickly realized it was because he was a cheap ***!  I envied the girls who had flowers delivered to them at school or walked around with heart shaped chocolate boxes.

As I got older, it didn't get much better, at least not for sweetheart day.  Even married.  I recall a particular Feb. 14th that fell on the same Sunday as the Daytona 500.  Uh...let's just not go THERE! As time marched on, V-day just kind of faded into the background. Oh, well, there's been roses here and there or a box of chocolate or dinner out, but not a big to do.

 I've always wanted to make a Red Velvet Cake from scratch.  Only because I've heard there's some magic involved and I'm all for a challenge! I searched until I found this old Southern recipe and didn't think there was anything too spectacular about it.

I gathered the ingredients and set forth on this journey of sugar, eggs, cocoa, and RED food coloring. WOW! That's a LOT of red! Didn't I hear once that red dye #40 wasn't good for you? Not like this cake is anyway!

This needs NO explanation!

BEST vanilla I've ever used!

Eggs and Sugar

Very dangerous lab procedure

Looks like an art project!

Perfect out of the oven.

Let the fun begin!

Some sugar crystals and sprinkles for a dash of excitement

The whole kit and caboodle!

The roses were from my sweetheart!

Here's the recipe for one VERY delicious cake!

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c canola oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 (1 oz bottle of red food coloring)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (room temp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) round cake pans.

Sift flour, baking soda, cocoa together.  Beat sugar and eggs together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together oil, vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla.  Watch that red, as it will stain clothes and fingers! Add to the bowl of eggs and sugar and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet mixture by alternating the buttermilk and dry ingredients. Always start with the flour and ending with the flour.  Pour batter into pans. Tap them on the table to level out and release air bubbles.  Bake for 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Watch it closely. Mine were finished at about 18-20 minutes.  You don't want to over bake or you'll have a dry cake.  Let layers cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove from pans. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks margarine at room temp
16 oz cream cheese at room temp
2 box confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together the margarine and cream cheese. Add sugar and beat until mixed, but not so much that the frosting becomes loose. Add vanilla.  You can also add toasted pecans or walnuts.  Spread between layers and on sides.

Now, here's the deal.  I screwed this up big time! The recipe listed above is doubled.  I usually do this because I'd rather have too much than not enough.  Well, I did great with the cream cheese and margarine, but when I got to the sugar, I only added 1 box.  I also didn't pay attention to over mixing the frosting, as mine was a little "loose."  I don't know why, but that term just doesn't sound right to me. Brings about another....uh, never mind.

So, I have this very creamy frosting and I'm trying to figure out why the consistency isn't thicker...DUH!  BUT, it tastes FABULOUS!  I expected it to be very sweet, but it wasn't at all.  You could really taste the cream cheese. I started frosting the cake and it wasn't too challenging, just different. It set up nicely in the fridge.  I have to say it's the BEST cream cheese frosting I've ever tasted!  I will continue to leave out the 2nd box of sugar. Also, I did have some left over.  My son thought it would be good to dunk oreos in!

I'm suddenly craving a slice of cake. Hmmm...I wonder if there's any left?