Oddzuki

I was having trouble coming up with a way to start this post. As a father, when one of my children does something spectacular, I have to give credit where credit is due. And right now, the credit goes to both my 8 year old daughter. She’s watched for the past 8 years of her life as my wife has baked numerous meals, roasts and desserts that have amazing flavor and presentation. She has helped on several occasions adding an ingredient here, stirring a mixture there… but she had yet to make her very own dish.

Yesterday changed all that. With my ongoing “battle” with the 4 Hour Body program, my day of decadence and delectable debauchery is Saturday. And during that time, my daughter wanted to give me a sweet treat to eat. She knows that one of my favorite dishes is Red Velvet Cake Anything. My wife just so happened to have a box of Betty Crocker on hand as well. So my bright eyed daughter, upon hearing that I would LOVE a cake (who wouldn’t), decided to take the initiative and get to baking. The catch was, she wanted to do it alone. I had no problem with this and my wife was agreed as well. That’s all my daughter needed to hear.

She quickly started acquiring all of her ingredients for her first solo project. She was having a blast already. My wife and I would occasionally pop our heads around the corner into the kitchen to see how she was doing and she was in the zone. I’m actually rather amazed at how adapt to the kitchen she is already. Everything was in order and the concentration on her face was awesome. A moment later we hear the mixer going as she’s plowing through getting things ready. My wife did help her grease the pan, but that was about it. The oven was to temp and the mix was in the pan. And my daughter couldn’t have been glowing any more than she was at that moment.

Once the cake had cooked thoroughly and as allowed to cool and was iced… it was time for a taste test. And by test I mean a whole section. Here’s my review:

Presentation:

My wife did help with the icing as she was trying a new recipe herself. A cream cheese icing coating the top of the Red Velvet cake was smooth, silky and simply amazing. Not too sweet, not too thick. It was perfect. Once the slices were made, the icing seemingly wrapped itself around the top edge of the crimson morsel of awesome. PERFECT presentation.

Consistency:

ZOMG. Some cakes are way too dense. Almost as if you have to saw through it. And then you have some cakes that are overly crumbly as if they did not have the right ratio of egg, oil and flour. This cake was spot on perfect. Perfectly moist, soft and fluffy. You slice your fork through to take a bit and it slowly grows back to the original form (sans piece you just took).

Flavor:

ZOMG: The Sequel. I’m a bit of a Red Velvet snob honestly. There have been 2 Red Velvet cakes that hold the title of the best. My wife makes an amazing Red Velvet cake. And a few years back, I attended a Christmas party at the International Speedway in Daytona Beach where one of the deserts was Red Velvet. My daughter’s Red Velvet cake has joined the ranks. A proper Red Velvet cake has a flavor that is nothing like a chocolate or devil’s food cake. I’ve tasted a few others’ attempts at Red Velvet and it tasted exactly like a red food colored chocolate cake. Not even close in regards to what my daughter has created.

Lastly, I must give credit to my wife as well. She has taught my daughter how to be someone that is passionate about being creative, cooking, and enjoying seeing delight on someone’s face when you create something that they enjoy. If my daughter continues to watch and learn from her mother… she will no doubt join the ranks of the “bakers” during the holidays!

If you live anywhere near me and would like to have my daughter make you some, let me know. I may just have to have her make a few to sell (yes.. it’s that good). Plus, she already is a budding entrepreneur. This might be a great teaching tool!