I have wondered on several occasions why America has never embraced the meat pie as a takeaway food preference. A meat pie has all the makings of a great American fast food choice - they are served heated, packed full of average quality meat, wrapped up in carbs and complete with 50% of your daily saturated fat requirement. Perhaps our American friends are just already too well served for choices in the dietary abomination category.

I also wonder when I see the glory that is Red Velvet upon bakery shelves all over the US why it is that New Zealand - with our ongoing fasination for cupcakes - has not snatched this pretty combination.

My American friend Marena recently gave me her Grandmother Ruby's Red Velvet cake recipe. I only know one fact about Ruby and that is that her favourite colour is red. This is enough for me to believe that a. she's a lady I would have liked and b. she no doubt provides a quality recipe.

Want to know where the red came from before Hansell's provided red food dye? Beets! Beet juice and cocoa = red cake!

Millie x