Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake with Pudding Frosting

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It's no secret that I have an obsession with all things red velvet. In fact, today I caught myself eyeing a "red velvet burrito" on a Mexican restaurant menu, desperately hoping that it was some sweet rolled up concoction oozing with cream cheese filling. Turns out it's really just a spicy red tortilla filled with the usual burrito ingredients. I think that qualifies as false advertising, but who am I to argue with a chain of restaurants?

I've never been to the Waldorf Astoria. Only two things come to my mind when I think of the swanky hotel; Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl and that weird salad with apples and mayonnaise. I really can't vouch for how closely this cake resembles theirs. I do know that this cake is dense, yet moist with that slight hint of cocoa, which is exactly how any red velvet cake should be. The addition of this light and fluffy pudding frosting makes it a surprisingly light slice of cake. And even though it's light and fluffy, the frosting still has as slight hint of tang from the cream cheese which is why it pairs perfectly with red velvet.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

If you were to ask me my favorite kind of cake, hands down I'd say red velvet with cream cheese frosting. There's just something I love about a perfectly made red velvet cake. It's obscurely chocolate flavored, yet bright red. It's dense, and moist and topped with a perfectly tangy yet sweet cream cheese frosting. I've tried many dry, flavorless attempts at red velvet and I have to say, it's hard to find the perfect recipe for this traditionally southern cake.

Rosemary Cream Cheese Ice Cream

Over the weekend, I had the chance to visit my friend Maggie (you may remember her from her recent guest post) and her husband Preston in Lambertville, NJ. Lambertville is a quaint little artsy town right across the river from another equally quaint and artsy town, New Hope, PA. Having already dined at most of the restaurants in Lambertville and New Hope, Maggie and Preston suggested we try a place called Honey in Doylestown, PA for dinner on Friday night. A restaurant serving "inspired American" small plates, Honey was a unique dining experience. I'll post a full review in the next couple of days but for now, I must tell you about our favorite part of the meal.

After devouring six small plates and one cocktail each, we opted for only two desserts (though I'm sure we could have easily handled a third). The seasonal dessert special was a fried apple pie served with ice cream.

Not just any ice cream... Rosemary Cream Cheese Ice Cream. After one bite each, the three of us sat in awe. "That's definitely rosemary," we said. After a second bite, we again, sat there... stunned. Finally the server came over to ask how the dessert was as we picked our jaws up off the floor. Surely the server had seen these looks before. Not wanting to expose the fact that we'd never tasted such a gourmet ice cream flavor (because let's face it, Chunky Monkey isn't chic), we quickly told the server how fantastic it was.

Lemon Blueberry Baked Doughnuts with Vanilla Bean Glaze

If I had to decide between a muffin, a doughnut or a bagel for breakfast, hands down, it would be a doughnut. Krispy Kreme, Dunkin', Maple Glazed, I don't care who makes them, I love them. I finally got my doughnut pan on Friday and couldn't wait to jump into the world of baked doughnuts. I packed up the pan, some fresh picked blueberries and a bag of lemons and headed to New Jersey with a mission: Spend time with great friends, hit some sand and sun at the beach and bake some doughnuts.

My favorite doughnut has always been a blueberry cake doughnut with glaze. I love how they're slightly crisp on the outside from their bath in the fryer and a fresh coat of glaze. Yet they are moist, cakey and overloaded with sweet blueberries inside.

I knew that a baked doughnut would not have the same texture of a traditionally fried doughnut. Realistically, I was expecting them to be a doughnut shaped muffin. I found this to be somewhat true, though the doughnuts were a little more dense than a muffin.

Root Beer Float Whoopie Pies

Growing up in South Central Pennsylvania, I've had my fair share of whoopie pies. Traditionally an Amish dessert, you can now find them sold throughout the United States. Sometimes called a gob, both Pennsylvania and Maine stake claims to having made the first whoopie pies (obviously I'm partial to Pennsylvania, so I'll say we made them first). 

My love affair with root beer whoopie pies began last year at a craft show held in Harrisburg, PA. A woman set up a fabulous booth of assorted whoopie pies, breads and cookies. I've had about every flavor of whoopie pie you can imagine but I was intrigued by the idea of a root beer float whoopie. I also bought the less unusual flavors such as red velvet, pumpkin and chocolate peanut butter. Surprisingly, out of all of the whoopie pies I sampled that day, the root beer float was by far the best. I could almost taste the fizz of the root beer inside the filling.

I found this recipe for a very similar whoopie pie a few months ago. It seemed like the perfect choice for my first post. The cakes are perfectly moist and the filling is light, creamy and delicious. I only wish it had a little more root beer flavor. Next time I might try using root beer extract rather than the root beer flavoring. I'm pretty impressed with myself for perfecting my first Swiss Meringue Buttercream. So much so, that I might never make a traditional buttercream again!

Recipe follows after the jump!