Bobby Flay likes to say that chefs don’t know how to bake. This was my excuse to myself as I cursed my spatula trying to ice Shawn’s birthday cake. I had just knocked a chunk out of the top layer. The layers all came out a little too crispy around the edges, except for the middle one, which I baked in a silicone pan. It was consequently the only layer that stuck. The icing was warm enough to spread, but too warm to hold the layers firmly in place. As I trimmed the crispy edges off, the cake would begin to lean to one side. Then I would trim that side off and it would begin to lean to the other. If you have ever tried to ice a cake with layers, you know what I’m talking about.

And THEN, already in a state of extremely annoyed, I barely tapped the side of my thumb with my new, very sharp bread knife (free from Central Market with $50 purchase). The resulting nick was very small, but stung just enough to send me over the edge. I then declared,“this cake looks stupid. And it doesn’t even taste that good. And if the top layer slips off and falls on the floor, your birthday is over!” At that moment Shawn suggested that I put the cake in the freezer to stiffen up the icing and try again later. Of course I did and it worked like a charm. The cake came out of the freezer an hour later and I calmly spread another batch of icing over the ugly crumb layer. Then I proceeded to decorate the sides and the top without incident.

This is the normal stream of events that occur when I make a cake. Why do I allow the cycle to continue? For one, because people like cake. And for two, because I like cake. And this particular cake came out nearly perfect. It tasted good and it even looked pretty, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Red Velvet Cake

This is another baked delight adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from “The Confetti Cakes Cookbook” by Elisa Strauss via the New York Times. I’ve increased the amount of cocoa by 1/4 cup and decreased the amount of oil (the original called for two cups). It comes out with more chocolate flavor and is still very moist thanks to the buttermilk. NOTE: The baking time says 40 to 45 minutes. My cakes were crispy around the edges before this time was up, but unfortunately I did not pay attention to when I took them out of the oven. I would check the cakes at 30 minutes to see how things are progressing and to avoid over cooking.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups canola oil

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 3 round 9-inch cake pans.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds. (WHY? I have no idea. If you know, please leave a comment).

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes (see note above about timing). Let cool completely in pans before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Deb’s recipe says that you may have to double the cream cheese frosting. I had to do this or else my cake would not have been covered. After coating between the layers, on the sides and on top and also piping some on top and around the base, I still had some icing left over. You can either eat it, give it to someone else to eat (my choice) or put in the freezer for another time. The room temperature thing is important unless you LIKE icing that looks like butter with cream cheese swirls.

Two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat for a few minutes on high speed to combine. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat for another minute to make sure it’s all mixed together. With the machine on low speed add the vanilla and add the sugar 1 cup at a time.