Butter vs Oil Battle

Who reins supreme (for red velvet)?  Continue reading and find out…

I was in search of the ultimate red velvet recipe.  I did an analysis of 8 different recipes (yes, I really did) and compared their ingredients.  Generally, they all had the same ingredients with similar proportions.  However, there was a difference in the fat ingredient –> butter and oil.  The recipe I used before contained butter and tasted great, so I was a bit skeptical about the oil.   I decided to put the two ingredients to the test.

Left contains butter, right contains oil

Just based on looks alone, I preferred the one with the oil.  It developed a nice dome, richer red color, and more air bubbles.  The one with butter just spread out and was flat on top.

flat top vs round top

This is what the insides look like:

with butter

with oil

The one with oil definitely created more/bigger air pockets in the batter.

Now, for the fun part…Mr. Y2K and I did a taste test.  The flavors were pretty much the same – all very yummy.  However, we both preferred the texture of the oil batter.  It was much more moist and spongy.  I wanted to have more people taste test so I topped them with a cream cheese frosting (butter recipe w/ chocolate hearts) and sent them off with Mr. Y2K to take to his office.

Final results?  Oil: 11, butter:1

OIL wins!

V-day Weekend

red velvet pancake + cream cheese whipped cream and savory egg tart

Aren’t heart shaped pancakes very fitting for a day like valentine’s day?  (I actually made these the day before, but not like it matters.)  You can find the recipe to the red velvet pancake and cream cheese whipped cream here.  Again, I cut the amount of sugar for the whipped cream.  Whipped cream was never a topping I enjoyed on dessert, but this recipe is freaking awesome with the addition of cream cheese.  I also had chocolate ganache left over from the superbowl s’more cupcakes so I drizzled that over the pancakes.

I used Tartine Bakery’s tart dough recipe for my savory egg tart.  It’s probably one of the best crusts I’ve had in a while…I definitely recommend using this recipe.  I don’t remember the portions of ingredients (garlic, onion, mushrooms, turkey kielbasa, cheddar cheese, eggs and cream).  I just did everything by sight.  I sauteed garlic and onions with olive oil.  I then added the kielbasa and mushrooms to the mixture and cooked until the kielbasa were browned.  I set those aside to cool down.  In a separate bowl, I whisked together eggs, cream, salt and pepper.  I spooned the mushroom and kielbasa mixture into the tart shells and topped with some cheese.  I then poured the egg mixture into the tart shells.  I baked them for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees F.

ANYWAY…who cares about the recipe…GUESS what I got for V-Day?!??!!?!?

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an awesome, delicious 6-course home-cooked dinner (will post pictures on my next post)…AND…

one of the items on my ‘I Want’ wishlist!

OH HECK YEAH! It’s a gorgeous candy apple red and so shiny…

(^___^)   <——very, very, very happy!  I think I squealed like a kid tasting chocolate cake for the first time.  Am I a dork for being this excited and giddy over a stand mixer?

Thank you Mr. Y2K!!!