Buddy Valastros Red Velvet Cake Food

RED VELVET-PECAN COOKIE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Make the brownie layer: Oil a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a small saucepan, stirring, until smooth. Mix the granulated sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter-chocolate mixture and mix on medium speed until combined. Mix in the eggs until combined. Mix in the flour and salt until partially combined, then scrape down the bowl and continue mixing until just combined. Spread the batter in the prepared pan; set aside.
• Make the pecan filling: Bring the butter, brown sugar and heavy cream to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Add the pecans and stir until well coated. Remove from the heat, let cool briefly and spoon on top of the raw brownie batter in the pan; set aside.
• Make the cookie layer: Oil another 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Wipe out the mixer bowl; add the butter and both sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through. Add the flour, corn syrup, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until smooth. Mix in the food coloring and vinegar. Stir in the white chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in an even layer in the prepared pan. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F. Once the cookie dough is firm, flip it on top of the pecan-topped brownie layer. Discard the parchment paper, then press down gently to bond the layers together. Put the empty baking sheet upside down on top of the cookie layer to act as a lid and transfer to the oven. Bake 30 minutes, then remove the top baking sheet. Continue baking until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 45 more minutes.

FUNNEL CAKES

Steps:

• Put the pancake mix in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the milk, 2 tablespoons of the oil, the egg, yolk, and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the pancake mix and stir to combine well. Put the batter in a measuring cup with a spout or similar vessel, such as a small pitcher.
• Line a plate with paper towels. Pour oil into a cast iron skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium heat to a temperature of 325 degrees F to 350 degrees F.
• Hold a funnel over the oil, a couple of inches from the surface.
• Working very carefully to avoid splashing hot oil, pour about one-quarter of the batter into the funnel and, working from the center, drizzle a web of batter over and around to create a disk approximately 6 inches in diameter. It's desirable to have some gaps or holes in the disk, but it should be whole enough to facilitate turning it over.
• When the bottom of the funnel cake is lightly browned, about 1 minute, turn the cake over, moving it away from you, and cook until golden on the other side, about 1 more minute.
• Transfer the funnel cake to the paper-towel-lined plate and dust immediately with sugar.
• Repeat with the remaining batter, letting the oil reheat between cakes, and serve immediately.

EASTER BASKET CAKE

Steps:

• For the chocolate fudge frosting: Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until smooth, with no lumps, approximately 3 minutes. With the motor running, add the sugar, one cup at a time, adding the next cup only after the previous
• addition is absorbed.
• Stop the machine and add the cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Paddle on low-medium speed until completely smooth, approximately 2 minutes. Add the water and continue to paddle until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Put the chocolate fudge frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a #48 interchangeable basket weave tip.
• For the white American buttercream: Combine the butter and shortening in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Sift in the confectioners' sugar and mix on low speed to prevent the sugar from spilling out of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the mixture aerates and becomes smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn down the speed to low.
• With the motor running on low speed, add the salt and slowly pour in the vanilla and oil in a thin stream. Increase the speed to medium and combine until the mixture is light, fluffy and smooth.
• For the green American buttercream: Put 3 cups White American Buttercream in a large bowl.
• Add a small amount of the green food coloring gel and combine with a rubber spatula until the cream is uniformly colored. Add more gel as you mix until the frosting is the desired shade of green.
• Put the green buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a #233 interchangeable grass tip.
• To assemble: On a turntable, prepare a double-layer cake of your choosing on a doily-lined cardboard circle, filling it with the filling of your choice.
• Put 3 cups of the White American Buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a #6 star tip. Dirty ice the cake with the buttercream by covering the cake with a thin layer to create a crumb coat.
• Take the chocolate fudge bag in hand, and working from bottom to top, using the straight side of the tip (the basket weave tip has a plain/straight side and a ruffled/serrated side), pipe vertical lines around the side of the cake, 1/8-inch apart, turning the turntable after each line.
• Next, starting at the bottom, and turning the turntable as you work, pipe horizontal bands over every other vertical line. Pipe another set of bands above the first set, piping them over the lines you skipped on the first level.
• Continue in this fashion, piping over alternating sets of lines, until you have created a basket weave that covers the entire side of the cake.
• Take the green buttercream bag in hand and squeeze-and-pull grass around the border, letting the grass come slightly over the edge. Cover the entire top of the cake with grass.
• Top the cake with the jelly beans, Peeps, Reese's peanut butter cups, and other candies.