This is my favorite cupcake of all time! I'm like some others who prefer chocolate over icing. I've been enjoying these for several years after a friend made some and shared the recipe. The cream cheese mixture is a 'filling', not a topping. In fact, I put a little more batter on top to ensure the cream cheese is my surprise inside. I do add vanilla and use 1/3 c. cocoa instead of 1/4, and cook only about 25 minutes. I, too, only get about 22 cupcakes out of the batch.

Reviewed On: Aug. 16, 2009

In our family, this is the recipe known as the Waldorf Astoria Red Cake. It is handwritten in my mother's hand-made cookbook she started compiling as a girl. It is the only red cake we have ever eaten and is always the birthday cake of choice each year for me and my sister (and our children, who are now grown). It was just about 10 years ago that I learned there were 'other red cakes' out there (with no cocoa and with cream cheese frosting)(I led a sheltered life, obviously), but they cannot hold a candle to this one. In our little corner of the world, this is the only one!

Reviewed On: Aug. 4, 2009

This is a pretty standard gumbo recipe, but always, always, wait until 5 to 10 minutes before serving to add the shrimp. Otherwise, as others complained, they'll be tough as shoe leather. I include a cup of chopped celery with the onion and bell pepper to be authentic. I always season with Tony Chachere's and some hot sauce (I love Cholula) and add sliced smoked sausage (which you can add early).

Reviewed On: Jun. 9, 2009