Hello, Lover!

RED VELVET WAFFLES

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream “Frosting”

Valentine’s Breakfast for a special someone?  Perfect.  Lazy Sunday morning for those you love all year?  Amazing gesture!

These are gorgeous and have the familiar red velvet flavor that’s coveted.  A hint of cocoa, slightly sweet…and a fun deep red that makes them seem more work than they are!  I topped them with a traditional cream cheese-whipped cream “frosting”, and a drizzle of syrup.   

No matter when you make them, or who you make them for…you’ll be loved in return!

I also think this batter would work as pancakes, if you don’t have a waffle maker…might as well give it a shot! 

(These are not low carb…simply low in sugar.  But for a special day, we’ll live through it!)

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Waffles:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup Whey Low Granular (Splenda or sugar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cup skim or 2% milk  (if making into pancakes reduce to 1 1/4 cup)

3 eggs, separated

6 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

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In a large bowl whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, Splenda (sugar), salt, and baking powder.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, egg yolks, melted butter, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar.  Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined.

In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff.  With a spatula, fold into the batter mixture.  (It’s okay if a few fluffs remain.)

Make in a preheated waffle iron per instructions.  Serve immediately with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream.

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Cream Cheese Whipped Cream:

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup Splenda (or powdered sugar)

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened

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Beat the whipping cream, Splenda, and vanilla until stiff peaks form.  Beat in the cream cheese until smooth.

Makes approx 7 servings, depending on your waffle maker.  I used a Belgium maker and the photo below is from one batch in the maker.  Stats are for seven servings (two waffles, each about 5 inches square; approx 1/3 cup of topping) that look like the photo.

Per Serving:  Calories 341; Fat 15 g, Protein 13 g; Carbs 30 g, Fiber 2 g; Sugar 7 g; Sodium 399 mg

 

 

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Kiss, kiss, love, love…

RED VELVET CAKE

Hello, Beautiful!

Sometimes being bad is really very good…and with this cake, on a special Valentine’s Day (with someone or alone!) it’s even better.

I’ve cut the original recipe in half to give you a single layer, but split it and stacked the gorgeousness into an impressive little number that will get you noticed and loved in return.   (The photo makes it look taller than it is!)

Same red velvet flavor as always; same beautifully white cream cheese frosting…just lower sugar.

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1 1/4 cups cake flour (such as Softasilk)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup Whey Low granular or Nature Sweet sugar sub

1 egg

1 ounce red food coloring

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9 inch round or square cake pan with vegetable cooking spray and dust with 1 tablespoon cake flour, tapping upside down to remove the excess, and set aside.

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In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder.  Set aside.  In a large bowl cream the butter and WL until light and fluffy, at least 2 minutes.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Carefully beat in red food coloring, scraping bowl frequently.

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Beat in 1/2 of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk; then the remaining flour mixture.  In a small bowl combine the vinegar and baking soda and quickly stir into the batter.  Immediately pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out still moist, with large crumbs – or almost clean, but not wet/raw.  Do not over-bake!  Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove cake from pan by placing the wire rack on top of the cake and invert; allow to cool completely.  (To ensure that your cake stays nice and moist, when the cake is out of the pan and on the rack, lay plastic wrap loosely over the top as it cools.)  Split cake in half with a serrated knife or a long piece of thread and frost with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.  (This needs to be kept in the fridge and actually gets better a day later. I put toothpicks on the top to keep the plastic wrap from ruining the frosting.)

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Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

One 8-ounce pkg. reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups Splenda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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In a medium bowl beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.  In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in Splenda and vanilla.  Gently fold in whipped cream.  (This makes a lot of frosting, but it’s worth it!  You may not use it all on the cake, but it’s great on other things, too.)

. Makes 12 servings.  Per Serving: Calories 160; Protein 4 g; Fat 11 g; Carbs 12 g; Sugar 0 g; Sodium144 mg

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