RECIPE: RED VELVET CAKE

Oh my gosh!

Those were the first words out of my mouth after I had a forkful of this cake.

A friend came over for coffee and I served her a slice and as soon as she took a bite, she smiled and her eyes widened at the same time, and then she gave me a hug.  There were no words needed.

I had some issues with the frosting though and will probably never make 7-minute icing again until they rename it to 20-minute icing (or maybe the recipe I followed was just wrong--but it was Martha Stewart's!).  While the frosting was good, I was not able to get the ala-marshmallow icing texture I wanted.

Regardless, this is HANDS DOWN, the best red velvet cake I have tried because it is super moist.  And yes, I am making this again but since I'm out of red food coloring, I will make a blue velvet or green velvet next time.

And because I'm super duper nice, I'm sharing the recipe with you.

RED VELVET CAKE 

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 Tablespoon of unsweetened, cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, this replacement worked for me)
• 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1-2 oz. red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar
• ½ cup of prepared plain hot coffee (this is the secret ingredient so please do not skip it!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. 
   
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
4. 
   
5. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil (I used palm oil). Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
6. 
   
7. Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
8. 
   
9. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.
10. 
    
11. Generously grease and flour two round cake pans with butter and flour.
12. 
    
13. Pour the batter evenly into each pan.
14. 
    
15. Bake in the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools.
16. 
    
17. Let cool on a cooling rack until the pan are warm to the touch.
18. 
    
19. Slide a knife or offset spatula around the inside of the pans to loosen the cake from the pan.
20. 
    
21. Remove the cakes from the pan and let them cool.
22. 
    
23. Start frosting when the cakes have cooled completely.

Cream cheese frosting would be best for this cake but I didn't have cream cheese last weekend.  But if you do, here's a recipe:

Ingredients

• 16oz  cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup milk, may need more
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Add softened cream cheese into large bowl.
2. 
   
3. Pour in milk, butter and vanilla extract.
4. 
   
5. Mix until well combined.
6. 
   
7. Pour in half of the powdered sugar. Mix until combined.
8. 
   
9. Add the remaining powdered sugar. Mix until smooth and fluffy.
10. 
    
11. Use a spatula to scrape down the side of the bowl if needed.

HAPPY WEEKEND!