Red Velvet Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting

[CreekWatcher]

Originally Posted by BikerAng

This cake is really amazing! I've made coconut flour cakes before (from Bruce Fife's book) and never really cared for them (too dry). This one however is fantastic! I couldn't taste any coconut, neither could DH. He LOVED it! This is a very dense cake, with all the eggs it's very filling and very rich. I used whole milk yogurt and Hershey's cocoa (didn't have any Dutch). I also used regular red food coloring, but didn't quite have a full TBS. If I can figure out how to use my camera, I'll take a pic and post it!

jenniferjb8 - I had this idea because I took a cooking class a while ago and we made flan. When making flan, you just cook down sugar (no water/butter/anything else) for the bottom (it's actually the top when you flip it out of the pan) of the flan. Sugar carmalizes and turns brown and turns to a liquid caramel substance. So I thought I'd try the same thing with xylitol. I just used a copper pan (it gets hot really fast and cools really fast because it's so thin) and put the straight xylitol in the pan. Cooked it on medium heat until it turned to liquid. I just watched it to make sure it didn't get too hot and as soon as it turned to liquid I took it off the heat (and with a copper pan it cooled down pretty quick). I let it cool until it was just warm to the touch and used this liquid in place of the crystals. I also used this method for the frosting and it turned out beautifully. This is how I'm going to use xylitol from now on. No grit or cooling. The fudge after a week is still like fudge, no crystals or cooling effect (disclaimer - I did add 1 tsp xanathan to the fudge just to make sure it didn't recrystalize).

Dumb question for the day, for anyone who wants to field it: Might the put-strait-into-the-pan-and-cook-to-melt trick work with and/or have any practical application with erythritol? Or polydextrose?

[worldlove]

OMG! Food Porn!!!! Yuuuuummmmmyyyyy!!!!:0)

[BikerAng]

Originally Posted by CreekWatcher

Dumb question for the day, for anyone who wants to field it: Might the put-strait-into-the-pan-and-cook-to-melt trick work with and/or have any practical application with erythritol? Or polydextrose?

I think it would work with E (it's a sugar alcohol like xylitol), but I don't know anything about polyd.

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Lauren, you are simply a genius. As I said on your blog, I'm from the south and my granny always made each family member a red velvet cake for our birthday (and for every wedding). I took over that tradition when she passed away. This was my first year doing low carb and I was so sad on my birthday. I've continued to make the family recipe cake for everyone else on their birthday's and it never phases me but for some reason I was just in tears without one for my own birthday.

I made half of your recipe today. I used sour cream in place of the yogurt because that is what our family recipe calls for. I used the 2 tbsp of chocolate even though it was a half recipe because again, our recipe calls for 3/4 cup so we like it good and chocolaty. And I used a full bottle of red food coloring for the same reason. Family recipe uses 3 whole bottles. I also used my own sweetener combo because I just can't stand stevia. I've tried so many brands and they just all taste bitter to me.

I made little mini cupcakes. Half of your recipe made 30. They have a wonderful taste and would be even better if I hadn't over baked them. Here are some pics (I hope). I wasn't in the mood to make them 'beautiful' today so excuse the messy look.

Pre baking:



Right out of the oven:



Iced:




I will definitely be making these agian many times in the future. I do have a question about coconut flour and I am going to post it in a thread of it's own. Thank you again for the time, energy (not to mention money) you've invested in sharing these fabulous recipes with us.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by BikerAng

I made this cake late last night, but haven't frosted it yet (doing that as soon as the cream cheese comes to room temp). I made a discovery with sugar alcohols (specifically xylitol because that's what I normally use). I made a batch of Laura Dolson's peanut butter fudge and had the idea to melt down the xylitol (just like you would melt sugar to make caramel). It melted down to a thick syrup, no crystals at all. I cooled it down and added it to the fudge. It never recrystalized (I did add a tsp of xanathan just to be safe). So I decided to try that method with this cake. The cake turned out beautifully. I'm also going to try it with the frosting. I'll report back as soon as the cake is frosted. DH is the super taste tester, he detects anything "funky" - I'm not quite as picky. There was zero cooling effect with the fudge, so I'm hoping the same thing happens with this cake too!

Would you be willing to post your recipe using the melted down xylitol for the fudge and for the cake/frosting? PLEASE??

[BikerAng]

Of course! This is a modified Laura Dolson recipe, the only change I made is using all xylitol and adding Not/Sugar. Not sure if the Not/Sugar is necessary but I added it just to make sure the xylitol didn't recrystalize.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares (see update note)
1 cup smooth peanut butter (no sugar added) at room temp
1 cup xylitol
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt
1 TBS Not/Sugar

Preparation:
Laura's notes: I originally made this recipe with Hershey's baking chocolate because I figured most people could get it. I've now found that when I make it with a higher-quality chocolate such as Ghirardelli, it comes out very hard, and works better to use less chocolate (like 6 or 7 oz.) or more of the other ingredients.

Angie's note: I used 6 oz Ghiradelli.

1) Melt xylitol in a pan over medium heat until all crystals are melted (keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn) and remove from heat.

2). Melt the chocolate. I like to pour boiling water over it, let it sit for 5 to 6 minutes, and then pour the water off. That way I know I won't burn the chocolate. Don't worry about getting every last drop of water out.

2) Add the melted xylitol to the melted chocolate and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

3) Pack or spread into a loaf pan. Cool to room temperature, or you can put it in the refrigerator. Cut into 18 pieces and serve.

My DH loved this fudge!

The frosting recipe is exactly the same as Lauren's recipe posted on the first thread, only I used 1/2 cup xylitol crystals and melted it down in a pan. I cooled the melted xylitol quite a bit and added it to the creamed butter then proceeded with the original recipe. My butter melted just a bit, but as soon as I added the rest of the ingredients the frosting turned out great. No grit at all, or cooling. Very good frosting!

[sungoddess]

BikerAng-

THANKS SO MUCH!! I am going to do this!

[BikerAng]

Anytime Sungoddess!!! My husband has been wanting fudge all winter. This was a tad bit crumbly when you cut it but the texture is fantastic. He couldn't believe it was low(er) carb, he just loved it. I kept it on the counter and it kept just fine. I made the red velvet cake before the fudge was gone and it was forgotten about and it started to look a bit funky (so I tossed the little bit that was left) but that was well over a week since I had made it. I just love this method for using xylitol, it gets rid of the grit and cooling!! I pretty much just exclusively use xylitol so this really helps a lot!

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by BikerAng

<snip> I just love this method for using xylitol, it gets rid of the grit and cooling!! I pretty much just exclusively use xylitol so this really helps a lot!

I use xylitol as well and I think this is a brilliant way to deal with it!

[BikerAng]

I just kept getting tired of some recipes turning out really great while others were gritty/cool. This idea just popped into my head and it really works! Hope this works well for you too!

[qbu]

I made this today since we had an ice storm and I was off from school. I found all of the ingredients at Wegman's--officially my new favorite grocery store!

This is so good! It's the first time I've had a piece of Red Velvet cake since April 2003!

Thank you so much for the recipe!

[Carleigh]

Originally Posted by qbu

I found all of the ingredients at Wegman's--officially my new favorite grocery store!

I made a brief stop over in Wilkes Barre, PA and it was the only thing on my to do list! What an amazing store with a TON of options in their natural/organic section. Not to mention all the other great stuff they carried.

[Sweeteater]

I don't even like Red Velvet Cake and this looks awesome!

[KlingonBabe]

Originally Posted by Sweeteater

I don't even like Red Velvet Cake and this looks awesome!

I had never had red velvet cake, and it *IS* awesome!

[jacksmixedtape]

Jennifer - The red velvet cupcakes looks so delicious! Thanks for taking pictures. Interesting to know that sour cream works as well. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!

qbu - Wegman's sound amazing! Thanks for trying the recipe, and I'm glad you have your RVC back.

[qbu]

I brought some of this into work today. My non low carb co-workers really loved it! They could not believe it was LC!

[Tweaker Geek]

First time I've seen your new avatar Lauren. You are a beautiful young lady!

[KlingonBabe]

I'm going to play with this recipe and make it into a chocolate layer cake.

[jacksmixedtape]

qbu, glad your coworkers liked the cake!

Tweaker, thank you!

KB, that's a great idea. Excited to see the results of your experiment.

[Determinedtolose]

I'll be making this on Sunday for the Cardinals game. I think the color is appropriate!!

[That Girl]

quick question, i don't have any coconut flour but, i do have coconut flakes made by the now company. can i grind this stuff up and use it for the flour? thanks, can't wait to try this, i am always on the lookout for chocolate cake recipes.....

[jacksmixedtape]

Have fun watching the game and eating cake, Diana!

Bella, this recipe would not work if you simply ground up coconut flakes. They would have to be defatted, like coconut flour, so the cake wouldn't be too eggy. HTH!

[SnowWhite]

I'm craving this cake again! I'll have to make it to celebrate my surgiversary

[Determinedtolose]

I made the cake last night, didn't frost it yet. I wanted to say that from repetiously making cakes, I just combined all the wet ingredients together and the dry ones together, then combined them all. It worked great, my cake looks like a gem. I did though double the recipe so I've got two that I'm going to put together. I felt a little greedy here, hehe!

One thing though and I'm not sure what I did. But from the outside, it doesn't look red, just a very dark red, not bright like your's Lauren. I'm still happy with that, I've got a chocolate cake!!

I can't wait to frost it tomorrow and try it. I love to chill my pre-frosted cakes in the fridge, just to make it a little easier to divide them.

I know it's going to taste wonderful!!

Edit: I know what I did!! I didn't have the bottled food coloring only the gel kind. I'm cringing as I write this because the gel has sugar in it, but that's all I had. I only used a little of it, but since it didn't turn out red, I should have left it out and made it a chocolate cake. Now I'll know next time.

[SnowWhite]

Diana: Yeah, Lauren addressed my prob w/ the cake not being very red. I used a dark cocoa powder. So she said I should have used more red food coloring. Mine was definately a dull red. It was really good though! I want to make another one this weekend. I'll have to use more Splenda in my frosting this time. My son and I ate the whole thing over the course of the New Year's weekend-week. LOVED IT!

Fed ex me some - TIA

[Determinedtolose]

Originally Posted by SnowWhite

Diana: Yeah, Lauren addressed my prob w/ the cake not being very red. I used a dark cocoa powder. So she said I should have used more red food coloring. Mine was definately a dull red. It was really good though! I want to make another one this weekend. I'll have to use more Splenda in my frosting this time. My son and I ate the whole thing over the course of the New Year's weekend-week. LOVED IT!

Fed ex me some - TIA

I thought about that, and realized everything I did was why I my cake wasn't red. I also used the dark cocoa powder, and the wrong food coloring. But I did taste the batter and it was awesome. I have no doubt, it's going to taste good.

So how much splenda did you think you'll use for your frosting? Did you use the same frosting recipe for the cake?

Oh and. .. what's your address?

Take care Hon!

[Determinedtolose]

Due to the mistake I made in my cake and it not looking like a red velvet one, lol, I turned it into a chocolate cake. Here's the pic.
I'll take a pic of it after I cut it later. Can't wait to taste it!

[SnowWhite]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh DIANA!!!!!!

Now how you gonna post that and not be able to pass out samples!!!!!!

Girl! That's just plain cruel!

Looks awesome!!!! I'm getting ready to make one too. I'm gonna try to make an italian cream cake though..with walnuts We'll see what happen

[Determinedtolose]

Originally Posted by SnowWhite

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh DIANA!!!!!!

Now how you gonna post that and not be able to pass out samples!!!!!!

Girl! That's just plain cruel!

Looks awesome!!!! I'm getting ready to make one too. I'm gonna try to make an italian cream cake though..with walnuts We'll see what happen

Teehee, SnowWhite! Well, Lauren is the genious here, I just did her recipe. But boy does it look good!

For the frosting, I made the as her recipe, but added some pre-melted unsweetened chocolate and unsweet powedered dark chocolate. I should have used the pre-melted first but that's how it worked out.

Your cake sounds really awesome too!!!

[SnowWhite]

I You