It’s the best-selling flavor at New York’s Magnolia Bakery, L.A.’s Sprinkles Cupcakes, London’s Hummingbird Bakery and other cake emporia. Since 2005, its inclusion on restaurant menus has grown by more than 500%. It has been used to flavor coffee, tea, waffles, doughnuts, even fried chicken. It’s easy to find red velvet truffles, butter cookies, and even hot chocolate.

Red Velvet is the flavor that came from—where, exactly?—to grab the spotlight.
 
 
WHERE DID RED VELVET COME FROM?

“The history of red velvet is not black and white,” says Deborah Harroun, author of the recently published Red Velvet Lover’s Cookbook.

Stories detail its discovery in the 1870s in Canada and in the 1950s in Pennsylvania. Some give credit to the Deep South, where red velvet cake is topped with cream cheese frosting.

A gift book for red velvet fans. Send it from Amazon.com (photo © Harvard Common Press).

“According to legend, a woman visited the Waldorf-Astoria, tried the cake, and fell in love. She wrote a letter to the hotel, asking if the chef would send her the recipe. The hotel did send her the recipe—along with a bill for $350. In retaliation, she made copies of the recipe and distributed them high and low.”

That does sound like a legend; and the truth is, we don’t know where red velvet cake originated.
 
 
SHOULD RED VELVET HAVE CHOCOLATE FLAVOR?

Before we read the book, we were under the impression that red velvet cake should be a type of chocolate cake with red food coloring. Our mom has baked a recipe called Red Devil’s Food Cake since the 1950s.

Think again, says Deborah: “The cocoa taste actually appears as just a hint when done correctly. I say that a red velvet cake or cupcakes taste like butter cake with just a hint of cocoa. It may be a hard flavor to describe, but once you’ve had it, you probably won’t forget it!”

And while many committed bakers deride red velvet for its use of “fake” red food coloring, there are natural ingredients that can be used to achieve the same red hue: cranberries, other red berries, pomegranates. Mom used beets in her Red Devil’s Food Cake.

What initially appeared to us as a gimmick has become a bakery staple, like another arrival of the same time, the cake pop. (Their offspring: the red velvet cake pop.)

In the book, Deborah presents the classics as well as a host of new, inventive uses for red velvet: red velvet biscuits, donuts, cheesecakes, icebox cakes, molten lava cakes, muffins, mug cakes, pancakes and even waffles.

There are a dozen recipes for bars, brownies and cookies, plus red velvet rolls and breads. Don’t stop there: Make red velvet cannoli, churros, éclairs, snowballs and truffles.

Even if your favorite red velvet lover doesn’t like to bake, he or she will be entertained just by the recipes and the photos.

Order yours at Amazon.com.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CAKE

> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAKE

Here’s a recipe from New York City-based Michelin-starred chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, a native of Austria where the Christmas goose is the go-to dish.

Serve it with your favorite sides. In Austria, these include red cabbage, baked marzipan-stuffed apples, roasted chestnuts, celery root purée and little bread dumplings served in a napkin.

The one thing you need to do in advance is let the goose dry out in the fridge overnight before roasting. This produces crisp skin. So head to the store and pick up your goose and trimmings.

An average goose serves six (or a fewer number of large portions). But even if you’re just one or two, you’ll be glad for the leftover goose.

RECIPE: CHRISTMAS GOOSE

Ingredients For 6 Servings

For The Sauce

Preparation

1. PAT the goose dry inside and out, using paper towels. Set it in a roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered overnight. The next day…

2. REMOVE the goose from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature (about 1 hour). If the bird is still moist, pat it dry inside and out with paper towels.

3. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. In a large roasting pan, scatter the carrots, celery and onions. Generously season the inside the inside of the goose with salt and pepper and stuff it with the apple, orange, quartered onion and thyme.

4. PRICK the skin of the goose all over. Season the outside of the bird with salt and pepper. Truss it and set it directly on top of the vegetables. Add 1/2 inch of hot water to the pan. Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and roast the goose until an instant-read thermometer interred in the thigh reads 165° to 180° and the juices run clear, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

6. MAKE the sauce: In a large casserole, heat the oil until smoking. Add the giblets, neck and wing tips and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the giblets, neck and wing tips to a bowl. Pour off most of the fat in the pot.

7. ADD the onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the wine and ice cubes and cook, scraping up the browned bits stuck to the bottom, until almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Return the giblets, neck and wing tips to the pot and add enough water to cover the ingredients by 2 inches. Add the thyme and rosemary and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 1 hour.

8. STRAIN the stock into a large bowl, discard the solids. Return the stock to the pot and boil over high heat until it coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

9. DISCARD the apple, orange, onion and thyme in the goose’s cavity. Carve the goose and serve with the sauce.

 
THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS GOOSE

While modern American families tend to have a turkey, ham or roast beef for Christmas dinner, goose remains the traditional Christmas meat of choice for many Europeans.

Goose has been a feast bird as far back as ancient Egypt. According to FoodTimeline.org, before modern animal husbandry, geese were at the ideal stage to be eaten twice a year. The first time was when they were young, in the early summer; and the second when they were at their fattest and ripest, toward the end of the year.

Before Christianity took hold, Northern Europeans feasted on goose to give thanks to Odin and Thor for the harvest. By the Middle Ages, geese were the feast food at Michaelmas, which fell on the winter solstice (which occurs on December 21, 22 or 23, depending on the year), to honor the end of the harvest. It was just a short step to Christmas.

Here’s an easy Christmas snack to make from Laughing Cow cheese wedges, or any cheese you like enough to cut into wedges.

Simply assemble:

 
The use of a red tray liner sets off the white cheese and adds to the festiveness.

We found the photo on Pinterest, regrettably with no attribution. But for a fun treat for kids and adults alike, we had to share it here.

What the heck are beer berries, one might logically ask. Better yet, what are chocolate-covered beer berries?

Invented by Moonstruck Chocolate of Portland, Oregon, this innovative treat starts with German roasted malted wheat berries, which are typically used in the brewing process to make dark beers like Guinness and other stouts.

Moonstruck tumbles the wheat berries in delicious dark chocolate. You don’t have to be a beer lover to enjoy the crunchy texture and coffee (from the roasting) and chocolate flavors.

But, chocolate-covered beer berries are delightful surprise for those who do enjoy their brewskis. They’re a great gift or party favor; and at $5.00 per bag, very affordable.

There isn’t anything alcoholic in beer berries—just great flavor and fun. The concept was invented by Moonstruck’s master chocolatier after visiting a brewery and discovering the unique flavors of the beer berries.

And yes, you can nibble on them while enjoying a glass of stout or other beer.
 
Get yours at MoonstruckChocolate.com.

For those living north of the Equator, today* is the the winter solstice, shortest day of the year.

Since antiquity, man has celebrated the winter solstice with feasting, gifts, visiting, drinking and more of the pleasures that counter the daily hardships of life.

So treat yourself to something special. We recommend a candy cane hot chocolate.

Start by making a seasonal cocoa cup rimmer with crushed candy canes or other peppermint candies.

Here’s a recipe for an easy batch of “peppermint dust” from Ziploc. Use it to turn goodies into festive treats all winter long.

To rim a cup of cocoa, dip the rim in water about 1/4 inch deep. Place the peppermint dust on a plate or in shallow bowl and twist the wet rim in it until it adheres.

1. PLACE candy canes or other red and white peppermint candies in a Ziploc bag. Gently crush the candies with a rolling pin. Use less pressure for tiny chunks, and more pressure for a fine dust.

2. STORE the peppermint dust in a a Ziploc bag or other airtight container for easy access.

3. SPRINKLE on frosted, brownies, donuts, cupcakes. See these and other recipes at LifeLessons.Ziploc.com.

Hot chocolate is made by mixing shaved, ground or other form of actual chocolate like beads or pellets (pistoles). The chocolate is mixed with water or milk, plus a sweetener. If you were to eat the chocolate, it would taste just like chocolate from a chocolate bar.

Cocoa is made with cocoa powder. Many products made from cocoa powder are called “hot chocolate,” but there is a difference. As chocolate contains far more cocoa butter than cocoa powder, hot chocolate will be smoother and richer than hot cocoa, all things being equal (if both products are made with the same type of liquid—milk, half and half, water, etc.) .

Check out the different types of cocoa and hot chocolate.
 
EASY PEPPERMINT BARK

For an over-the-top treat, have some peppermint bark with your candy cane cocoa.

Peppermint bark is super easy to make. Simply:

2. CHILL in the refrigerator for an hour and break into chunks. Voilà: a special treat with little effort.
 
*Using the Gregorian calendar, the December solstice occurs between December 20th and December 23rd. Based on the rotation of Earth, the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun at the winter solstice (and closest to the sun at the vernal equinox in June). The Gregorian calendar is used in most western countries: 365 days in a year, 366 days in a leap year.