Birthday Ritual

As the family pastry gal, I am always eager for the challenge of a birthday. I always require that the Birthday Boy/Girl choose their favorite cake or sweet to celebrate their day. This time it was Sean's birthday and of course he had to pick something with either lots of food coloring or sprinkles... if he had it his way, he would pick both and then flavor it with mango. (Let's just say he still has the palate of a 6 yr old.)

His choice this year... Red Velvet Cake.

I have made this one other time and found it to be remarkably adaptable for the non-egg eaters that I am surrounded by. I adapted this recipe found on epicurious.com (a gem of a recipe-finder).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/RED-VELVET-CAKE-WITH-RASPBERRIES-AND-BLUEBERRIES-108256

The modifications I made are as follows.

1. Instead of the eggs, I used 2T of apple sauce for each.
2. No berries.

I would have liked to use berries, however they were Remarkably overpriced at Randall's (get it!). Also, I would recommend using a little bit of egg-replacer if you try this one out, because the cake, while incredibly moist, was a bit on the dense side. I thought that it was also a little too sweet, but that is the way that Sean likes it and he was very happy with the outcome. He actually ate most of it over the course of the week. The icing recipe was terrific and I will definitely use that again for other creations.

Pictures to be posted in the next few days... (Waiting for camera to recharge)

Lunch with Mom

Mom's in town for a few days which requires unparalleled entertainment and tons of food. Yesterday we had brunch at Luz, an up and coming restaurant in Clinton Hill and just a few minutes' walk from my house. Brunch was so delicious, we had to go back the next day. The restaurant has sidewalk seating, and a high brow menu at very reasonable prices, including fun cocktails and a Cinco de Mayo margarita special. Ooh la la. What we liked about the food is the beautiful presentation, fresh ingredients and playful recipes that often took a basic (read: overdone) idea and turned it into something exciting.



I had the Palmito (bottom), a salad of hearts of palm, mango, cherry tomatoes, avacado and field greens, surrounded by strips of cucumber and dressed with an orange vinagairette, and Arepas de Queso (top), little corn cakes topped with deliciously salty Mexican cheese and a cilantro pesto.

Mom had the Salmon al Pimienton, a perfectly cooked filet of salmon pan-seared and covered with a spicy-sweet red pepper glaze, served over a bed of creamy cilantro mashed potatoes and garnished with crispy fried shrimp.

After a few tequila-heavy cocktails and all this food it was time for a nap. Can't wait to go back for dessert!