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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Best Red Velvet Cake

With a velvety texture, the red velvet cake is one of the best layered cake ever. It is moist, fluffy and the cream cheese frosting in it, makes it extra yummy.

This wonderful cake can be made for winter holidays, Valentineโ€™s Day and for almost any other occasions.
Prepare the batter and pour it in a 9 inch round pan, if you want your cake layers to be thin but if you want the cake layers thick, use a smaller round pan.
Bake in a 350 ยฐF preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.
Cut the cake into half. Trim the dome on top away to make the top layer surface even.
Crumble the trimmed dome to be used for garnish.
Put half the cream cheese frosting on 1 half of the cake and spread it evenly. Top the frosting with the other half of the cake.

Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting on top and sides of the cake.

Garnish with the cake crumbs.
You can garnish the cake with ground walnuts on the sides of the cake and whole walnuts on top but thatโ€™s optional.
You can obviously make cupcakes with the red velvet batter.
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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Best Red Velvet Cake

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Red velvet cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 8
Author LDSโ€™s Mom

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), softened at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Red food coloring
  • 1 egg

Cream cheese frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice (or more)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt , cocoa powder and baking soda, then mix them well with a spoon. Set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the butter, oil and sugar until creamy.

  3. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk more.

  4. In a big cup, mix with a spoon the buttermilk, vinegar and red food coloring (use enough to obtain a bright red colored liquid).

  5. Pour both flour and buttermilk mixture into the bowl. Make sure to strain the buttermilk mixture. Mix well until smooth.

  6. Pour the batter in a 9 inch greased round pan.

  7. Bake in a 350 ยฐF preheated oven for about 25 minutes.

  8. Let cool completely.

  9. Prepare the cream cheese frosting by mixing all the ingredients until smooth.

  10. Cut the cake into half. Trim the dome on top away to make the top layer surface even.
    Crumble the trimmed dome to be used for garnish.

  11. Put half the cream cheese on 1 half of the cake and spread it evenly.

  12. Top the frosting with the other half of the cake.

  13. Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting on top and sides of the cake.

  14. Garnish with the cake crumbs.

Recipe Notes

  • You can double the ingredients and use two 9 inch round pans in order to obtain a cake with thick layers.
  • If you donโ€™t want the lemon flavor in the cream cheese frosting, simply replace lemon juice with milk and add vanilla extract or any other flavor.
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๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Vegetarian Barley Semolina Soup- Vegetarian Tchicha soup

Barley semolina soup or Tchicha soup ( French โ€œ Soupe a la semoule dโ€™orgeโ€) is an economic, healthy soup. Itโ€™s one of the soups prepared during the holy month of Ramadan in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. It can be eaten all year long obviously but preferably in cold weather. Itโ€™s a great soup to fight the cold in my opinion.

It can be prepared with red meat, poultry and seafood. I made my soup vegetarian as there are days I canโ€™t stand to look at meat ( red or white). I just think that my stomach needs a break from animal proteins.

Tchicha soup has different names depends of the region. It is also called Tchicha Mermez, Hโ€™ssoua, Belboula soup, Harira Tchicha ( or Hrira Tchicha), Harira Belboula ( or Hrira Belboula).

Recipes differ from one country to another and from one region to another and this is my simple recipe.

Barley semolina called Tchicha in some Maghreb countries ( French semoule dโ€™orge). It has other names depending on the country or region.
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๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Vegetarian Barley Semolina Soup – Vegetarian Tchicha Soup

Cuisine Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian
Keyword Tchicha soup, Harira Tchicha
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 5
Author LDSโ€™s Mom

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Tchicha ( barley semolina)
  • 1 small onion, finely minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 2 medium carrots
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 1 medium tomato, grated
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp dried parsley

Instructions

  1. Put olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. add onion, garlic, carrots, zucchini, celery stalks, tomato paste, salt, pepper, ginger, turmeric, coriander powder, dried parsley and paprika.

  3. Let cook on medium low for about 10 minutes.

  4. Add the grated tomato and let cook for 5 more minutes.

  5. Cover the vegetables with boiled water and let cook on medium temperature for about 20 to 30 minutes.

  6. Soak the Tchicha in water while the soup is cooking. Once the vegetables in the soup are cooked, rinse the Tchicha well until its water is clear. Set aside.

  7. Take out the celery stalks from the sauce and discard it.

  8. Take out the carrots and zucchini then purรฉe them in a food processor.

  9. Pour the vegetable purรฉe in the sauce.

  10. Add the Tchicha and let it cook on medium low heat for about 30 minutes or until It is tender.

  11. Stir the soup from time to time so that Tchicha wonโ€™t stick to the bottom of the pan.

  12. Adjust the seasoning and add salt if needed. You may need to add boiled water too.

  13. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

  • After adding Tchicha or barley semolina to the soup, the soup will thicken as it cooks, add water and seasoning to have your desired thicknessย 
  • To reheat the soup the next day, you may need to add water and seasoning as Tchicha will absorb all the liquid.
  • If you like your soup spicy, add any hot pepper you like, to cook with the other vegetables.
  • You can obviously use fresh parsley in this soup.
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