The past month or so has been pretty uneventful, I've continued swimming about three time per week and steadily increased distance via "long swims" on the weekends. Since I'm still not ready to sign up for a triathlon, I found something else moderately aggressive to train towards: the Maryland Swim for Life. I elected to do the 5 mile swim which I estimate will take me at least 2.5 hours to complete. So far, I've swum up to 5k at Wilson. Boring? Yes. But it's something. Being that the swim is a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS-related charities, if anyone reading feels so inclined, I would certainly appreciate any donations ($2-5 per mile) which can be transacted through this site.
Last week made a little more than 4 months since my knee injury. Wanting to closely follow Dr.'s instructions, I waited until Tuesday, May 1st to attempt my first run. Starting with an overwhelming .25 miles, I tried to ensure good running form. No problems with the .25, .50, and .75 miles I've done thus far but the knee did start feeling odd during the last lap of the .75 on the track. I probably need to move a little more slowly although I've just been going on feel and not worn my Garmin for any of these runs yet. Today should be 1 mile, so hopefully that goes well.
I've also added in some bike rides with mixed results. The knee feels awkward but the discomfort isn't necessarily painful and doesn't increase over time. I was hoping to jump right back in to cycling where I left off. That hasn't really happened. I definitely have some catching up to do.
-- Intermission --
With the arrival of May comes the annual celebration of all things Jessica McNiece. The theme for this year, in honor of the Russian Washington Capitals and Cinco de Mayo was "Cinco de Moscow." Establishing some overly ambitious and foolhardy goals is an occasional vocation of mine so I decided to undertake a themed cake for the occasion. To match the Russian theme, I settled on red Velvet Cake with buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese dressing. I thought cream cheese fosting would be more susceptible to heat/humidity and buttercream would be more resilient. the reality was much different. (Recipes at the end)
Thankfully, Jessica allowed me use for her Kitchenaid and I started working pretty much as soon as I got out of bed and walked the dog. The plan was to mix and bake the cake and then go for a run and swim while the cake(s) cooled. Originally, I planned to use cupcakes to compose the onion domes but was never really confident in that approach. Fortunately, another option came to mind.
Being predominantly a cook and not a baker, I did not have any cake pans and opted instead to use a couple Pyrex dishes. After application of some cooking spray and flour brushed around the glassware with a basting brush, I was ready to pour in the cake batter. Since I was using glassware, I reduced the baking temperature by 25 degrees and I feel it made a significant difference in cooking time. It should have only taken 30 minutes but actually took over an hour for both to be completely cooked (as determined by a toothpick in the center).
The cakes after baking. Off to Wilson High School for .75 mile run and 5k swim.
A little off the top to make for a flatter top. turns out the very center of the larger cake was not completely baked through so I had to excise a section and replace it with some of the cake removed from the top.
As you can see, instead of cupcake onion domes, I mixed up a batch of rice crispy treats. While warm, they are extremely malleable and proved an easy medium with which to work. At this point, I was shocked that everything had developed without a hitch. Thinking back, I blame myself for not immediately knocking on wood after having this thought.
Crumb layer with buttercream frosting. Then into the fridge to harden up. While chilling, I mixed my palette of frosting colors - red, brown, green, yellow, gold, and blue. This is the large rectangular cake after being sliced in two (the layers, obviously).
I frosted the individual cakes on their boards in order to preserve the look and limit any frosting that might have fallen onto my foil-covered presentation board. This approach also helped when connecting the base of the cathedral to the main part of the cake. As you can see by the beer bottle, some time has passed.
My Vision:
My Reality:
To finish it off, I frosted a note on the white section of the cake:
To my #1 fan
Happy J-Day
Love (in Russian)
A Semin #28
Not 20 seconds after leaving my house did the first of the domes come crashing down onto the cake and my person. Thankfully, I was able to save it from certain doom on the ground. The cake was pretty damn heavy and I didn't care to risk colored frosting on my still relatively-new car so I put it on the floor of the car and made my way to the host's house.
You never realize how bumpy seemingly flat road surfaces are until you watch a cake you spent 8 hours on bob, undulate, shake and generally threaten abject disaster until you gingerly drive 2.5 miles down the road. I finally arrived at the party and made some quick fixes with Stephanie Wade's help and managed to make some room in the refrigerator. I then bounded back up north to change clothes and bike back down to the party.
In the end, it was extremely well-received. I just need to learn to take some baby steps instead of plunging myself into cake boss-level projects.
Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pans
- 3 cups cake flour (sift before measuring)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
Directions
Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper; butter the parchment. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Beat the granulated sugar, 12 tablespoons butter and the vegetable oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, until just combined.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on racks, then turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely. Using a long serrated knife, carefully slice each cake in half horizontally to make 2 even layers.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
- 3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions
- Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows
- 1 package (10 oz.) Rice Krispies cereal
Instructions
- In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
- Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.
- Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.
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