A day of red, white, and blue

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A very happy July 4th to y'all!

I'm don't usually get so excited about holidays, but this year is different. This year, for the first time in many years, I am enjoying a day off with my family. Probably the hardest aspect (for me) of working in bakeries is coming in on big holidays and making pies and cakes for other people's picnics. So to all my friends who are working today: I hope you feel appreciated and recognized for your hard holiday work. 

This morning I enjoyed sharing the time off with Jason and Eden and started the day off right with some festive waffles.

I used Isa Chandra-Moskowitz' Classic Waffle recipe from her cookbook, Vegan Brunch (which is one of my favorite cookbooks by the way) and then, as you can see, smothered them with berries.

Later today I will be heading out to my parent's farm to enjoy a potluck with entire family. 

This is what I'm bringing:

I got the recipe for this red velvet cake here. This was my second attempt. In my first attempt I tried to make a red velvet cake using beet puree. I did a lot of research, found myself reading about pH levels and types of acidity and after reading numerous blog posts and looking at many Google images, I choose a very un-vegan recipe that I was certain I could veganize. I don't know if it was the process of veganizing it or the recipe itself but the result was a brown cake that tasted like beets.
But this recipe from the tolerant vegan was great, incredibly easy, and I learned that sometimes it's okay to use a little red food coloring.

I made a full batch and bake it on one large cookie sheet for about 23 minutes (until knife comes out clean). After it cooled for several hours (best to put it in fridge), cut it into four even strips. Place the bottom strip on a cutting board (or large platter) and pipe a boarder of frosting around the top edge of the cake. Scoop about 1/2 cup of frosting in the middle of boarder and smooth over with an offset spatula. Top with second layer of cake and repeat twice ending with the final layer of cake.

If you want very clean edges, place cake in freezer. When it is mostly frozen cut the edges of the cake with a sharp, hot knife.

Pipe a bottom and top boarder and cover with blueberries.

Store in refrigerator and bring out one hour before serving.

This is a great technique for decorating. It's much easier than working with round cakes or attempting to frost the whole cake, but equally (if not more) impressive. As always, let me know if you have questions.