"Hey There, Puddin'!"

So I was invited to friends house for "Game Night" to get through the Cincinnati dead-of-winter doldrums and I decided to make a cake, which in itself is an oddity. I'm usually the "I'll bring the chili", "I'll bring the beer" or "I know a place with great chili and beer" guy. Not usually the "dessert" guy (although I've got a killer pecan bourbon pie recipe I'll share with you sometime soon).

But it was snowing and my grandma always made a Red Velvet cake for my sister and me on Christmas so, well I felt a little nostalgic. But instead of using the Bundt cake format my grandma used to use, I broke out the cake pans and made a double-layered number.

Now, the real key to this deal was the white chocolate pudding between the two layers of red velvet cake. What? Pudding? Not icing between the layers of cake? Why?

Couple of reasons. One, icing is so, so sweet that more icing takes away from the cake flavor and pudding, whether it be chocolate, vanilla or when you can find it chocolate peanut butter work to throw the taster a "curve ball" while also providing added moisture into the cake. The key is to let the whole thing set overnight before you serve it so the pudding has time to permeate its flavor and moisture into both layers of cake.

So with two red velvet base cakes melded together with a white chocolate pudding middle and surrounded my cream cheese icing and coconut flakes you have more than a couple different textures and flavors interacting with each other to give your taster some unexpected, but welcome, experiences.

And, for a minute or two, it makes you remember very cleary a dear, dear lady who meant so much to both you and your sister. Around Christmas time as well as the rest of the year. Miss you, Grandma!