Stop Reading, and Do Something!

I like to read everyone's blogs that describe how to do creative things: decorating, crafting, spray painting, baking...  Today I read a blog that described the rut I am in; reading and organizing and cleaning, but never doing some of those great ideas because the time is never right.

I determined that today would be different.  I finally had all of the ingredients to make a Red Velvet Cake on page 233 of Pioneer Woman's cookbook that I got for Christmas.  So I gathered  the ingredients.

Of course I did do some substitutions.  Nathan could not find cake flour when he did the grocery shopping last week, so I googled for a substitite and used 3/4 cup all purpose flour plus 2 TBSP cornstarch.  I also used milk and vinegar for buttemilk as suggested on page 40 of PW Cooks.  And I used much less red food coloring because I did not have 1 oz., but then added some water so the liquid would add up to 1 oz.

Renee made sure I followed the steps and that it looked just like the picture.

The batter looks quite red even though I used less food coloring.

I made quite a mess!

It looks a lot the the pictures in the cookbook.

We will have to give you the taste test results after we eat it for dessert.

Now I know why I rarely bake a cake from scratch, favoring the box cake mix:

• Using a box uses less ingredients 
• I usually have these ingredients on hand
• It takes less time
• Since it takes less time I have less interuptions
• It uses less dishes; this recipe had you mixing wet and dry ingredients in a bunch of different bowls
• I don't have to make substitutions, so it takes less time, ingredients, and dishes

The advantages of making a cake from scratch:

• More flavor choices
• You see the science that goes into baking
• More of a challenge
• I am hoping it will taste better (But I have never tasted a red velvet cake, should I have used all that cream cheese frosting the recipe made?  It just looked like way too much sweetness, so I had more than a cup of frosting left over.)

I will report back on the results.  I am wondering if any of you have made a red velvet cake from a box.  I saw it in the store once, but did not buy it, and now I can't find it again.  Let me know how you think it compares.