Red Velvet Cake

I've always thought Red Velvet Cake sounded so luxurious. With the proliferation of the trendy "gourmet cupcakes" I think red velvet has come back into fashion a little. In any case I've been hearing/reading about it in my foodie mags. So I decided to give it a try for a fun, festive Valentine's Day dessert.

I actually had a tough time finding a recipe, there are not as many recipes out there as I thought there would be! But I was saved by my favorite foodie blog, www.smittenkitchen.com

I modified the recipe slightly, which I will note below. Red has always been my favorite color and I love that this cake is red! I also love that it's chocolate. The best of both worlds. Some of the recipes I looked at had a puny Tablespoon or two of cocoa. This recipe has 1/2 cup. But, even if you're not a huge chocolate cake fan it's not too strong. Believe me.

The texture of this cake (moist but still with a nice firm crumb) was perfect, as was the flavor. I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but it fit well with this cake and the amounts were proportional (enough frosting, not too much). We'll definitely be making this again sometime . . .
RED VELVET CAKE
Adapted from www.smittenkitchen.com
**Note: I halved the amount of red food coloring. The original called for 6 T. My cake was still plenty red enough for me. I also baked it in 2 cake pans instead of the 3 called for in the recipe. Mostly because I don't have 3 cake pans. I then cut each layer in half sideways to have 4 layers to look fancy with frosting between!)**
1 T soft unsalted butter
3 1/2 c cake flour (really important, don't substitute)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c canola oil
2 1/4 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2-3 T red food coloring (I bought the 1.? oz bottle of red coloring and used it all, it ended up being around 2 1/2 T)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c buttermilk (can substitute 1 1/8 c milk+2 T lemon juice, let stand 5 min)
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Use butter to thoroughly grease bottom and sides of 2 (or 3 if desired) round 9" cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment or wax paper and smear with additional butter or spray with nonstick spray.
Whisk cake flour, cocoa, and salt in small bowl.
Place oil and sugar in bowl of electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Running machine on low, slowly add red food coloring so it won't splash too much. Add vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk alternately in 2 batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
Place baking soda in small dish, stir in vinegar, and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
Divide batter among pans, place in oven, and bake until cake tester comes out clean. For 3 pans, 40-45 minutes. For 2 pans, about 55-60 minutes. Let cool in pans 15-20 minutes then remove from pans and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 c (1 stick) butter at room temperature
3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy, then add sugar and vanilla. Beat until well combined.