Happy Easter, y’all!

 

My Manhattan Urban Family loves celebrating traditional holidays with big dinner parties.  We may be cynical heathens who have no right to dine in the name of Jesus, but we do love food.  I was allocated a traditional American dessert that originated in the South: Red Velvet Cake.  Despite the salacious name, it’s actually just a type of chocolate cake with red food coloring.  So, I put on my apron, whipped up my best Paula Deen accent and got baking.  Happy Easter, y’all! I adapted the recipe from one I found on bon appétit, where the user reviews let me know that Americans take their red velvet very seriously.  Despite my censure of the hoards that line up lemmings outside Magnolia bakery for hours on end (they’re just cupcakes!!!) I adapted the recipe for the frosting from theirs.  This is a ridiculously complicated recipe for frosting, but it is worth the effort. 

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 tablespoons of oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift the already sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition, and then add in the oil. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

The frosting:

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract 

In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. In a large bowl, on the medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on the medium high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (no less and no longer—set a timer!). Use immediately.

Meatballs of comfort

 

Last week I got a little excited by the red letter entry in my desk calendar: March 20 —Spring Begins.  I tucked my winter coat into protective plastic sleeve and buried it deep into storage, shoved my boots underneath the bed, and dressed myself in some too-pretty satin sandals and a flippant floral skirt.  Fool.  I walked around the village waiting to see daffodils blooming and cherry blossoms budding on the trees and promptly shivered into startled oblivion.  Clearly, my desk calendar had not consulted with meteorology.  I climbed my five-floor-walkup in satin ice cubes craving the ultimate comfort food and ready to revel in the west village winter wonderland for a few weeks longer. Thus, I made my favorite spaghetti and meatball recipe and tucked up in a blankie on the sofa and waited for some feeling to creep back into my toes.

Meatballs: 2 hot Italian sausages, 1/3 lb of minced beef, A little hot pepper seeds, Pepper, 1 egg lightly beaten, 4 green onions finely sliced, Chopped parsley, Spaghetti or fettuccini  

Sauce:1 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 onion chopped, 1 teaspoon of garlic, 1 packet of grape tomatoes, 1 cup of pasta sauce

Combine all the ingredients for meatballs and combine and form into balls.  Arrange on a foil-lined baking tray and spray with oil.  Bake in a moderate oven (350) for 30 minutes.  Combine the ingredients for the sauce and stir until hot and serve with the meatballs over cooked pasta.  Top with parsley, pepper, and parmesan.  A blanket over the knees is also a lovely accompaniment.