Red Velvet Cake

I’m sharing a wonderful gift with everyone this week, on the heels of the American holiday grounded on giving and gratefulness. The gift is the story of another wonderful puzzle box created by one of the world’s true masters of the art. Perry McDaniel is a creative genius in his chosen medium, and the meticulous attention to detail in his designs osmosis into everything he does as well. It was an incredible pleasure to have him as a partner in this year’s International Puzzle Party planning and implementation. The event demanded a lot of time and effort from the organizers, yet despite this, Perry also managed to design, build and produce an incredible addition to his puzzle cake series at the same time. In true fashion, he shared the whole story in great detail, which I now present to you.

“Anticipation of the gathering of our puzzle friends at IPP41 in Houston this last summer had me thinking of a dessert puzzle box with roots in Texas and the Red Velvet Cake was a perfect candidate for my muse.  While the cake originated outside of Texas in the late 19th or early 20th century and the true origin is the subject of some debate there is no argument that when it was served at the Waldorf Astoria in the late 1930’s to John and Betty Adams of the Adams Extract Company, it was soon to become a southern sensation.  Savvy marketing and a vibrant red food coloring produced by Adams led to the Red Velvet Cake becoming one of the most recognizable desserts in the country.

Adams included recipes for Red Velvet Cake in promotional materials, which firmly linked the dessert to it’s now iconic hue.  Adams is headquartered in Gonzalez Texas today and was kind enough to allow a reprint of matriarch Betty Adams original recipe for this centerpiece dessert.

Today, Red Velvet Cake has been reimagined in many forms including cupcakes, sheet cakes, bundt cakes, cake balls and hybrid desserts like red velvet cheesecakes and even ice creams.  Naturally it made perfect sense to me to add puzzle boxes to that list of hybrid delights. 

For me, a good cake and a good puzzle box always starts with lots of layers.  Because every new layer means more of that scrumptious icing!  RVC begins with a structure built up from Basswood and a little bit of Walnut. Many weeks are spent cutting and combining the tight tolerance pieces to form the base for permitting movement around the core.

Next various sliders are added to do the work of carrying the outer skin around the maze of interconnections.

The outer skin features the natural red of Bloodwood from tropical South America and the creamy white of Holly from the US.  A few glueups and before you know it the collection of beautifully colored boxes begins to build. And finally a decorative top resembling rectangular bits of candy cane topped with a single square of chocolate. Yum! 

Nothing says “almost finished” like finishing day in the shop.  And even with a fairly large shop, I have to get creative in order to spray them all at once.

My wife often helps with packaging to give my little puzzle cakes that extra special look.

The final display for the IPP41 Puzzle Party table included actual red velvet on the table along with samples from Adams Extract and their original recipe for Red Velvet Cake.

There were some custom made bon bons from my favorite chocolatier that echoed the colors and added the true flavors in the booth and a small sign that reads:

“RVC.  The retro visionary charm of this cake harkens us back to a time of regal vintage confections.  Layers of resplendent velvety cocoa bathed in raucous vibrant color all separated by a rich voluptuous creamy frosting.  Every slice a rapturous visual creation and every bite resonates venerable celebration. Red Velvet Cake. It’s really very cool.”

And in Texas, we need all the cool we can get!”

Perry’s RVC was a huge hit at the puzzle party. His patisserie table was overrun by pastry seekers from the moment the doors opened and his shop had sold out in minutes. I think the chocolate truffles lasted longer than the cake. His puzzles are popular for good reason, and the lucky cake lovers who were able to devour the RVC in time were merely following their instincts. Little did they know that this incredible puzzle box is one of Perry’s all time best from the cake series, featuring many confusing and well hidden moves, including two rather brilliant tricks that make it a masterpiece. Chef’s kiss!

Everyone who follows along with these offerings or who has met me socially knows I love a Negroni. The chocolate Negroni is already a thing that exists, so it’s not much of a stretch to push it just a little further into Red Velvet cake territory. Red Velvet cake is, after all, a colorful version of chocolate cake. “Velvet” cakes were a soft crumb cake considered to be “fancy” in the twentieth century. “Devil’s Food” cake, made with chocolate, may have been the precursor to its red velvet cousin, which uses cocao instead. The red color was promoted, as noted, by the Adam’s company, after the cake became popular at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. A Negroni is already the right color, too.

The red velvet Negroni relies on a few infusions to bake in all the right flavors. Cacao nibs are crumbled bits of dried cacao beans that can be used to accent foods or drinks. They are full of antioxidant and some believe in their health benefits. Infused in Campari, they lend a rich chocolate flavor to the bitter liqueur and are a well beloved way to create a delicious Negroni variation. In addition, I also infused the gin with Biscoff cookies, in an attempt to add vanilla cake flavors. The result was a bit cloudy, but delicious. The recipe seems to be in the development phase, and next time I’ll clarify the cookie infused gin with a milk wash to give a velvety smooth texture and restore the clarity to the drink. Baking can be so rewarding - Cheers!

Red Velvet Negroni

1 oz Biscoff infused gin

1 oz cacao nib infused Campari

¾ oz sweet vermouth

¼ oz crème de cacao

2 dashes mole bitters

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Garnish with a cookie – perfect for dipping!

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