NYC Cake

NYC Skyline Cake

Recently a friend of mine moved to New York City from abroad. He just hosted a party at his Upper East Side apartment to launch summer and let us all enjoy his balcony. His one request for me…. Can you make a cake?

So what kind of cake do you make to celebrate this occasion? A NEW YORK CAKE- of course!!!

First I had to decide on what kind of cake. I know one of his good friends loves Red Velvet, so I decided to try another red velvet cake. Since I wasn’t sold on Martha Stewart’s recipe, I decided to call my brother for his recommendation. (He really is the best baker I know) He suggested I try the recipe from Baked, a fantastic bakeshop in Red Hook, Brooklyn (check them out: bakednyc.com) The recipe (listed below) came out thicker and more like a batter than the Martha Stewart recipe. It looked better and I figured I was on the right track. It also tasted a bit more chocolaty, always a good thing.

But frankly, even though the recipe was from a NYC bakery, red velvet is generally considered a southern cake, and I wanted to make mine ring of NYC. Plus, it needed to feel masculine since it was for a guy- no pretty flowers or pinks and purples. So I decided to go with a simple line design in a dark, gray color, reminiscent of the general color of New York. I thought of the iconic buildings in the city- The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, etc… I decided to do a simple skyline featuring a select few buildings around the edge of the cake. I could then intersperse them with generic buildings and highlight it a bit with some greenery to symbolize parks. They needed to be somewhat recognizable from a basic line drawing, so I selected The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, Citi Corp, The Flatiron, Grand Central, and The Arch at Washington Square.

I did a basic sketch to get the overall look and feeling, and then mixed some frosting a dark but muted gray color. Then, with just a basic round tip, I piped the key buildings around the cake. Then the smaller ones and last the bits of green just to have some color. As you can see from the finished product, it is simple, iconic, and masculine.

My friend loved the cake, and I was happy that it tasted even better than my last red velvet! We had great fun at the party divvying up the respective buildings and offering them to various people at the party! Anybody want to eat the Chrysler Building?

Red Velvet Cake (from Baked)
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red gel food coloring (see note below)
1/4 cup boiling water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

In a bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, food coloring, and boiling water. Set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric stand  mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir the buttermilk and vanilla into the cooled cocoa mixture. Sift the flour and salt together into another bowl. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, to the egg mixture in three separate additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until combined. In a small dish, combine the vinegar and baking soda and stir until the baking soda dissolves (I love the way it bubbles up). Add to the batter and stir until just combined.

Bake at 325 F about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack, remove the pans, and let cool completely before frosting.

*This recipe yields 3 cakes in 8 inch rounds. I only used 2 cakes from smaller rounds and used the rest of the batter for cupcakes. Additionally, Baked uses a cinnamon frosting whereas I prefer a traditional cream cheese frosting.