Red Velvet Cake & other American baked goodies...

After several discussions over the past 9 months about how much we miss our favorite red velvet cake in NYC, Cake Man Raven's, we decided to take control of this repetitive issue of malaise by contacting a local bakery, Harvest Baking, in Saigon to ask them to make one for us. Harvest Baking was started by two Americans from San Francisco and they train local disadvantaged Vietnamese youth how to bake and work in the booming service industry. Even though the southern classic red velvet wasn't on the menu, we were confident Harvest could whip one up for us due to the fact that one of owners is a former pasty chef and because all of the other baked goods we've tried, such as their brownies and sugar cookies, have been excellent. When we made the request the owners were a bit surprised and said it wasn't on the menu because most people don't know what it is but he cheerfully agreed and we had our red velvet cake within a matter of days. As soon as it was delivered, H contacted me at work and we decided we couldn't wait until after 6pm to try it so we decided to meet at home for lunch to try a piece. Needless to say, the cake was amazing! I was a little skeptical when I saw fresh coconut flakes sprinkled on top- a very Vietnamese touch- since that isn't typically seen on a red velvet. However, the nice subtle flavor went perfectly with the cake. It's nice to know when we miss our American comfort foods, we can usually find them a phone call or a block or two away :)