Get Baked

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm a sucker for cookbooks. I love looking at recipes and imagining myself creating the perfect meal or the perfect dessert and all my guests beg me for the recipe, but I tell them I cannot divulge my secret family recipe (even though I really got it from Cooking Light), and everyone is envious of my superior cooking skills. I also have a huge sweet tooth. Sugar + chocolate = happiness. So, imagine what a cookbook of only desserts does to me.

The latest cookbook that has everyone talking, blogging, etc. is Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito's Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. The book is a compilation of the recipes that they use in their bakery in New York. Published in October, it is already in its third printing and has sold more than 20,000 copies. The book has gotten rave reviews from food bloggers and has been featured on Martha Stewart and the Today show. Food & Wine magazine has named it one of their favorite cookbooks of the year. Even Oprah has given her endorsement, naming their Baked Brownie one of her "favorite things." When I first heard about this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Just look at the cover! Does that not make your mouth water? There are quite a few recipes that I wanted to try, but I knew I had to start with the Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Icing. I love Red Velvet, but usually only make it from a boxed mix. Now, before I go any further, I will admit that I am not the best cook. Although I love to bake, my results are often disappointing. Sometimes this is because I fudge the recipe a little, but most of the time I think it's just due to the fact that I'm missing some essential talent that good cooks have. But because I was making this cake for my friends, I was very careful to stick to the exact ingredients and instructions. Result: disappointment. Nothing at all like the beautiful cake in the picture. The cake, while tasty, was not at all red velvety. Not even a hint of red. It looked just like a plain old chocolate cake. The icing in the picture looked like an off-white icing, smooth and firm. The icing that I ended up with was runny and brownish-speckled. In fact, it was so runny that I couldn't use it and I ended up running to the store for a can of Pillsbury icing. Blech. The cake did taste good. It was moist and light and delicious, but not red, and since I had to use store-bought icing, that was a let down. I definitely wouldn't make this recipe again. I bought the ingredients to make their Millionaire's Shortbread, but after the Red Velvet Disappointment, I've been reluctant to try again. I think Matt and Renato should send me one of their Red Hot Velvet cakes, so I can experience it properly. And maybe some shortbread.