Has February come and gone already? I’m not sure when that happened, but I have one last birthday post for you (I told you I could really drag out the celebration). In previous years, I have made elaborate cakes exotic flavor combinations, but this year, I kept it simple. One vanilla cake and one chocolate cake. And while I have become more open to vanilla cakes in my 30’s, chocolate is where my heart is and always will be. Is there anything better in the world than a good chocolate cake? I think not. The more chocolatey, the better.

After scouring through some old recipe books, I came across a few different recipes in Baking Illustrated. I love making cakes from this book, since it gives a long explanation and the science behind each recipe. I have made the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake and the Sour Cream Chocolate Cake and loved them both, but I was looking for something richer for my birthday cake. This Devil’s Food recipe boasted “a velvety, more intense chocolate experience” than regular chocolate cakes, so I was sold. I also loved that it made a 3 layer, 8-inch cake, which is my favorite cake profile. Is it weird to have a favorite size for a cake?

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Cake, glorious cake!

It’s hard to believe that until recently, I rarely made vanilla cakes from scratch. In fact, I rarely made them at all. I found them to be too tempermental, bland in taste, and not worth the effort. All I can say in my defense is, what was I thinking?! It’s true, when not done right, vanilla cakes can be dull and dry, but they can also be magnificent! The recipe I’m sharing today is my favorite so far. It’s light, fluffy, and full of vanilla flavor.

I think that the turning point came for me when I got a kitchen scale. If you bake often, it’s worth the investment. Your cakes will turn out so much better if the measurements are accurate. I do everything by weight when I bake now, especially cakes. The results are so much more consistent. Oh, and if you don’t want your cake to be dry, don’t over bake this cake. Dry cakes are a sad, sad thing.

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It’s hard to believe that a up until a few years ago, I had never had red velvet cake. Since moving to Texas, I have made (and eaten) more than my fair share of the stuff, and while I was reluctant to jump on the red velvet band wagon at first, I’m officially a fan. The cream cheese frosting that is usually paired with it is just an additional bonus.

This is the first time I have used this particular recipe for Red Velvet, which is originally from the popular Brooklyn Bakery Cake Man Raven. It has less cocoa in it than other recipes I’ve tried, so the color is a very bright red. I added some chocolate chips to the batter to amp up the chocolate flavor and add some texture, but if you don’t like chocolate chips (is this even possible?!) feel free to leave them out. I liked them so much that I decided not to frost the outside of the cake just so that they could be seen. For cleaner looking layers, I spread some frosting in between the layers and then piped a ring around the outside of each layer with a large round pastry tip.

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