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Saturday, February 22, 2014

EASY Red Velvet Torte

I have not been sharing much here on the blog lately. Mostly because not much is happening here at the farmhouse except the normal daily things which I'm sure you don't care to hear about. I got my 2 year old potty trained, which to me, is a huge task and one I dread. He still has accidents sometimes but they are few and far between. As with my other 2, he isn't night trained either. For some reason, my boys seem to take awhile for that to develop.

The weather here in NW Ohio has been brutal and some days I feel like all I get done is feed wood into the woodstove (our main source of heat). This week, though, the cold has relented a little and we had some 'balmy' temps in the 40's. That has made for lots of melting snow and flooding. But I'm not complaining; I'm glad to see the snow go! I'm getting anxious for Spring.


And now for the purpose of this post: Red Velvet Torte. I made this cake on Valentines Day but am just now getting it shared. It looks fancy but I assure you, it really is easy. The recipe I got from my mom was chocolate and I wanted something 'Valentiney' so I adapted it to suit me. It was a big hit at our house; really moist and not overly sweet. To make it, you will need:

1 Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 small box chocolate pudding
1 stick butter - melted
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs

Mix all this together until well blended and divide evenly into 2 9" round (or heart-shaped) pans that have been greased and floured. Bake at 325*F for 30 min. or until done. Cool 15 min. then overturn them out onto a plate to completely cool. When cool, carefully slice each cake in half.

***A tip for baking cakes to be flatter on top instead of domed is to bake them at a lower temperature. This allows the center to bake evenly with the sides.

For the frosting, mix in small mixing bowl the following:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat until color lightens then fold in 1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip. Divide frosting into 4 equal parts.

Assemble the torte starting with cake and topping each layer with frosting. For the top layer, you can 'decorate' however you wish. I dusted the cake with powdered sugar then made rosettes around the edge. Chocolate curls or hearts would be neat too.

***A tip for getting the frosting on the layers without smearing a bunch of crumbs into it is to put it in an icing bag (or Ziploc with the corner cut off) and pipe it on beginning with a ring or 2 around the outside edge and filling in the middle in a back and forth motion.

Refrigerate the completed torte if not serving immediately. Also refrigerate any leftovers {if you have any}. :)




from the farmhouse

3 comments:

  1. Rachel, that cake looks amazing. I don't think I have ever had red velvet cake. I must surely try some. The rosettes on top are so sweet. I have heard that if you use dental floss to divide layers it works well. Your children will eventually be completely "trained". For some it takes just a little longer than others. Hang in there. We used a wood stove for heat for most of my family's growing years. It is good training for them to be responsible for bringing in some of the wood (although it made more of a mess for me to clean up after them). We changed out the old wood stove for a propane fireplace later, and some days I really miss the wood smoke smell and the warm cozy place you could always go to "warm up". Blessings on you and yours.

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  2. Hello Rachel, I am delighted to have found your blog. You do amazing things . . . in fact the way that I found you was . . . I Googled . . . "painting a plywood floor" and one of your posts came up. Your floor turned out amazing :) My husband and I have just put a bid in on a small bungalow on an acre of land. We have never owned that much land and are looking forward to growing a garden. The house was built in 1905 and it needs tons of TLC and we will be doing it on a tight budget. We have been praying about finding a place like this for years, but have never found one that we could afford. Then just a couple weeks ago this one came on the market . . . I have driven past it for over thirty years and always thought that it was so cute. Well, the Lord works in His timing and not ours, so now we are waiting to see if everything goes through smoothly . . . so far everything has :)
    I'm sorry . . . I have been burning your ears off, going on and on. I love your blog and I am your newest follower. I hope that you will visit my blog and maybe feel like following me back. Now, I'm going to look through some more of your posts.
    Have a wonderful week.
    Connie :)

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    Replies
    1. Here's my blog address
      http://crafty-home-cottage.blogspot.com/

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Thanks for taking the time to make my day with your comments!