Red Velvet Cupcakes

In search of something to eat for lunch this past Monday afternoon, I stumbled over an unopened container of Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting.  “Well,” I thought to myself, “someone really ought to use this …”

I love cupcakes.  Who doesn’t love cupcakes?  And my absolute favorite kind of cupcake is Red Velvet – but I’ve never made them before!  It just so happened that we also had Ghirardelli unsweetened cacao powder in the house (no idea why), so I obviously had to give them a whirl. 

I searched for a while to find a recipe I though sounded good and settled on one I found on the website pinchmysalt.com (a really great site with beautiful food photos and recipes).  I followed the recommendation to use unsalted butter instead of shortening (staying true to that butter-loving French chef in me), and I made my own decision to use white wine vinegar in place of normal white vinegar – because everything tastes better with wine!  Actually I also like the more complex flavor of white wine vinegar, and I think it made a scrumptious substitution, so I say try it!

These cupcakes definitely weren't the easiest to make, but they were oh so worth it.

Memere's Graham Cracker Cake: Easiest Crowd-Pleaser Ever

This recipe comes from my maternal grandmother. I don't remember seeing her cook much when I was younger, but I'm told she was quite impressive in the kitchen. I am one of a few family members who have become the "Keepers of the Recipes," and this one is one of my favorites. It's the easiest thing in the world, and everyone always flips over how delicious it is. We call it Memere's Graham Cracker Cake.

Ingredients

1-2 Boxes Traditional Graham Crackers (Depending on how big you want to make the cake)

1-2 Quarts Heavy Whipping Cream (Again, depending on how big you're making the cake)

White Sugar

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Vanilla Extract

Directions

1 - Whip heavy whipping cream into ... well ... cream. Think Cool Whip consistency. But don't over whip it! I made the near-fatal mistake of whipping my cream into butter once. Not good.

2 - Add sugar, chocolate syrup, and a little vanilla extract to cream. Now, you've probably noticed that there are no measurements. That's because Memere didn't have any measurements. You have to do it to taste. I usually start with sugar until it tastes sweet enough to me, drop in a bit of vanilla, then keep adding chocolate sauce until it tastes ridiculously good.

3 - In a glass casserole dish (I use my trusty Pyrex), smooth down a layer of the chocolate cream. Then put down one layer of graham crackers. Cover the graham crackers with another layer of the chocolate cream (probably a little less than a quarter-inch thick; make sure all of the crackers are covered!) Then another single layer of crackers. Keep layering the crackers and the cream like this until the dish is full/the cream is gone.

4 - Put the cake in the fridge for at least an hour; the graham crackers will soak up all the yummy cream and it will be DELICIOUS. This is also good frozen, although it is a little trickier to bite into.

ENJOY!