From the Heart

Double-layer heart-shaped Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese filling, American Buttercream Frosting and an outline of Red and Pink Sugars with Red, White, and Pink Nonpareils

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything not work related!  And I’m grateful to be feeling as though I have energy to devote to baking and creating and sharing.

I’ve been working hard since we arrived in Utah in late September 2016.  We bought a house 15 months later and have now been living in it for just over a year.  It’s taken this long to feel anything like settled… and we finally unearthed most of my baking supplies.

It feels good to have access to my Fiesta.  The custom shelves make it possible to have immediate inspiration as well as access for daily use.  It’s my favorite and I can’t see that ever changing.  Whew!

 

Another constant remains sobriety.  I passed the 22  year mark of sobriety inside AA which means I haven’t had to be in the middle of my shenanigans for a while.  Of course I make mistakes and life isn’t perfect and I still have a chance as long as I stay focused one day at a time.

My life partner and I are about to celebrate 32 consecutive years of married life… and it keeps getting better and better.

For Valentine’s Day, I wanted to bake a sweet heart-shaped Red Velvet cake.  Of course I could only find the small heart-shaped pans.  Off we went to the baking store to find what I needed.  How is it the only pans we found were…. extra big?  

Ok, off we go…

This is my favorite Red Velvet Cake recipe.

Gather ingredients and start mixing..

I needed to double the recipe to accommodate the size of the pans.

I love the color of this batter!

Last ingredients to add by hand… baking soda and vinegar.

Prepare your pans with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Be sure to consider weighing each pan empty and then as each pan is filled in order to ensure even layers.

Gently press the batter to the edge and smooth out the top. There will not be considerable rise so don’t skip this step.
I love it when layers fall out of the pan intact.
I might have overbaked the layers by a few minutes and the bottom was not as moist as I preferred. I simply took a serrated knife and gently released the dry piece.
This little bit of cake had spent the night in the cake fridge with the edge touching the inside wall. It became soggy and no good. I removed that small chunk and filled it with cream cheese. It did not have an effect on the integrity of the cake and no one knew.

Let’s talk about scale. Each layer of this cake is made with all the batter of the cake recipe intended to construct a triple-layer 8″ cake. The Homer Laughlin Fiesta Dinnerware 15″ Pizza Tray… is fully consumed with this heart! (15″ = 30.5cm)

I’ve often stated… “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

I love the layers of filling. A crumb coat is essential for keeping those red crumbs out of the white filling and frosting.
SO.MUCH.YUMMINESS.
I love a good slice of cake.

It feels good to write again. It feels good to create … and the ideas are starting to come to me. Color, shape, art, and design have all been the jumping off place for inspiration. I feel lucky.

It’s a blessing to enjoy all that we have with my life partner.

It’s a blessing to have our people so near.

It’s a miracle to be sober one day at a time.

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8 Responses

  1. Dallin says:

    Always love your colorful Fiesta! You are amazing!

  2. Sarah says:

    I adore your Fiesta built-in display!
    This cake is beautiful and looks delicious!
    I love how you talk about the *process* including releasing parts of the cake. You’re deep; we need these messages!
    Double congratulations ?
    And I miss you ❤️

    • Julia says:

      I miss you and adore you. Hope all is going well. It’s a relief I feel like writing again and creating and developing a vision. How soon do we get to spend time together!?

  3. RaeAnn says:

    I LOVE your shelves! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

    • Julia says:

      Thanks, Raeann! We love them too. I enjoy sitting and looking at them in the quiet of the morning and getting inspired with new ideas. When I started using Fiesta, it was just a few colors…this is 22 years of Fiesta.

  4. Holley Murphy says:

    The cake is beautiful and I’m I love with how you display all you’re Fiesta! I have scarlet Fiestaware and I love it. Hope y’all doing well!

    • Julia says:

      Thank you, Holley! We’re doing well. John and I are great. Kids are living their lives and we’re just grateful they keep us involved. Your girls look like they’re having a great time. But how are you??

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