Fare Exchange: In need of delicious dishes that travel well

By Jane Henegar

* Good morning, good cooks. Consider today’s challenges, the first from a long-ago correspondent who calls herself Mrs. Harrie D. Cook. She wants some hints for foods that will travel across the ocean for the holidays, to those she loves. “I would love some recipes that travel well, and also advice about buying a device that vacuum-packs foods to preserve them, much like the meals sold in outdoor stores and military supply stores. But I want to be able to send something delicious.”

* Additionally, Mrs. Cook wants “recipes using fresh rosemary, as well ask any noncooking uses for them, as I have a huge bush right outside my door.”

This recipe from D.H. Vine is for a low-sugar red velvet cake, answering the request for a sugar-free red velvet cake suitable for a diabetic diet.

“I double this recipe and slice it again to make a four-layer cake,” he wrote.

Rose Red Velvet Cake

3 large egg whites, room temperature ( 1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

1 bottle red food color

11⁄2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

1 cup superfine sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 cup canola or safflower oil at room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1⁄2 cup low-fat buttermilk

Heat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl whisk egg whites, food coloring and vanilla just until lightly combined; watch for staining with the red food color. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the oil and butter on medium speed for 1 minute. It will not be completely smooth. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 11⁄2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in 2 parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure.

Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into a prepared (9- by 2-inch heart-shaped or 8 to 83⁄4-cup round pan) and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula. (You may encircle the cake with a cake strip, coat the bottom of the pan with shortening, top with parchment cut to shape, then coated with baking spray with flour.) Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until cake tests done and springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the cake and the pan, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so that the top side is up. Cool completely, then frost with Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting.

Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting

3 ounces white chocolate containing cocoa butter (such as Green & Black’s with vanilla seeds or Valrhona)

4 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1⁄2 tablespoon crème fraiche or sour cream

1⁄8 teaspoon almond extract

Heat the chocolate until almost completely melted. Use a small microwavable bowl, stirring with a silicone spatula every 15 seconds. Or use the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often. Do not let the bottom of the container touch the water. Remove the white chocolate from the heat and, with the silicone spatula, stir until fully melted. Allow to cool until no longer warm to the touch but still fluid.

In a food processor, process the cream cheese, butter and crème fraiche for a few seconds or until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides. Add the cooled melted white chocolate and pulse it in a few times until it is smoothly incorporated. Add the almond extract and pulse it in.

The frosting becomes more firm in the refrigerator. For a whiter frosting without the subtle flavor of the white chocolate, replace the white chocolate with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Frost when the cake is cool.