Billy Law

I just wanted to share this cake with you today. Red Velvet cake is probably my favourite type of cake, and yes I realise what a big statement that is. I am prepared to stand by it.

This was Billy Law’s Have You Eaten? Baking Club challenge for this month. You may remember that I did a food photography workshop taught by Billy a few months ago.

I made this cake for a friend’s house-warming party and as it turned out this was the perfect excuse to make my first Red Velvet cake. This friend and I were roomies (flatties?) during our London days. We had an excellent system going where I would cook and she, the neat freak would clean up after me before I could even finish setting the oven timer. She was also a fellow Red Velvet lover and the two of us with our third flat-mate would wander down to Portobello Markets on a Saturday. Once there, we would meander among the stalls of antiques, kitsch souvenirs and free-size clothing to the Hummingbird Bakery. There was always a queue in the narrow store, the number of people waiting almost equal to the number of cupcakes on display.

Two red velvet cupcakes would be ordered, and another flavour, so insignificant compared to red velvets that I can’t even remember what the favourite of our other flatmate was. Then, clutching our treats, we would continue to make our way through the crowds of Londoners, expats and tourists, relishing each crumb of cake and smear of icing along the way.

I really didn’t change much in the recipe that Billy provided, so there is not much point typing it out again here. I threw in a second tablespoon of cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavour because, well, this is me we’re talking about. I also had misplaced my gel food colourings so I used a liquid food colouring of which I used 2 tsp, but would recommend using 3 or 4 tsp judging by the resultant colour. And yes, I realise that you can’t get an idea of the colour from these pictures but I really didn’t feel comfortable taking a cut up cake to a party.

Lastly I should mention that this was a super easy recipe which yielded wonderful results and an empty platter at the end of the party, which I always think provides better feedback than any words ever could.

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and I wish you all a decadent, happy-boozy New Years Eve.

Since I took the plunge into the world of blogging, I have been especially delighted by the supportive nature of the food blogging community both in Sydney and around the world.

When I found myself sitting at a table with several other food bloggers at the A Table for Two food photography workshop last weekend, I felt at once totally comfortable and incredibly inspired.

The ATFT blog and workshops are the brainchild of Billy Law, a previous Masterchef Australia contestant, food photographer, cookbook author and self-confessed sweet-tooth.

Over two days, Billy talked us through the technical aspects of food photography and what to do with that big hunk of metal and plastic that goes click when you press the button.

Then there was the personal advice and clever tricks he generously shared about the art of food styling. Billy’s bubbly personality put us all at ease, regardless of how silly our questions were.

There were a few Ah-ha! moments for me and a few things in my brain went ‘click’ as my camera did the same.

The good people of Mumu Grill kept us all well fed with a delectable and nicely staggered four course meal that helped fuel our bodies while all the new ideas fuelled our minds.

Somehow sipping a glass of wine at 11 am seemed perfectly acceptable when it was all part of the quest for knowledge and self-improvement.

As a newborn in this world of food blogging, this workshop was exactly what I needed and I hope to put all the little tips I picked up into action very soon.