Red Velvet Cake

I made this cake for Mike’s 21st birthday party. It was a huge hit and everyone thought it tasted great. I made the cake with cream cheese frosting, even though that isn’t the traditional frosting used for red velvet cake. I think next time I will make the cake with the traditional frosting though!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get great pictures of the cake after it had been cut since my camera ran out of battery, but I managed to get a few during the assembly process.

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter,  room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk,  room temperature
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round baking pans.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix together cocoa powder and food coloring until a smooth paste forms.
3. In a large bowl with a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time and then blend in vanilla extract and red cocoa paste. Make sure to mix thorougly, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Add in half of the buttermilk. Mix in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the remainder of the buttermilk. Add the last 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix in, making sure that the batter is well incorporated.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar and baking soda. Add this to the batter and mix in thoroughly. Divide the batter equally between the two pans.
6. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, rotating pans once during baking. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Cool cakes in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and place on rack to finish cooling after 10 minutes.
8. Frost the cake with the traditional icing or cream cheese icing – recipes are included below.

Cream Cheese Icing

2 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Blend together cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Add in vanilla extract.
2. Add powdered sugar with the mixer on low speed.
3. Blend the frosting on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Traditional Red Velvet Cake Icing

1 cup milk
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, combine milk and flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Cool completely.
2. Using a mixer, blend together sugar, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the flour mixture. Mix until the icing is a good spreading consistency.