Red Velvet Cake

This post is really late coming, but I was working on a Birthday party this past week for my sister and you will soon see why it's been awhile since I posted anything heres a sneak peak though...

For Mothers day this year, my parents and sister went to England and I was left to make dinner for my brothers that Sunday.  So I decided to make there favorite Italian dinner, and then in honor of my amazing Mother, I was going to make my Mothers favorite dessert which is Red Velvet Cake.

There is a history with Red Velvet cake for me... you see I've never managed to get this cake to turn out, its always been to dry or something else, so I have stopped making it ever since they made Red Velvet Cake mixes.  That being said, there never as good as the cake you can make from scratch.  So I decided that I would try one last time...  I have been reading a good friend of the families blog lately Purple Chocolat Home, and read about her Red Velvet cake recipe and decided to try it.  She always has the most amazing food, and I've never not liked a recipe of hers, so I made it, and i'm happy to say it was a total TRIUMPH!!!

So I used Jacqueline's recipe with a few tweaks that I learned along the way of making this particular cake. I'm not sure you need to do these steps, but it's automatic for me to do it this way...

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

(Makes 3 - 8 or 9 inch layers)

2 1/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 T. white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 T. cocoa
3 oz. red food coloring
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
3 3/4 C. flour
1 1 /2 tsp. vanilla
     Cream sugar and oil, then mix in eggs one at a time, beating
 after each one.  
     Mix vinegar and soda and set aside.
     Add cocoa and food coloring to egg mix (you can cut it to 
2 oz, but it won't be as vibrant of a red.)
   Beat in the flour alternating with the buttermilk.  Add soda 
mix and vanilla.  
     Line bottoms of 3- 8 inch pans with parchment paper.  Do
 not grease the pans.  Pour batter evenly into the pans.  Bake 
at 350 for 30 minutes or until springs back.

So here are my tweaks... 

I always sift the flour and salt together, and I never use anything but cake flour.

Instead of 3 oz. of food coloring I did 2 bottles, and then filled one with water and added that.

I always mix the cocoa and food coloring together and make it into a paste then add it to the mix.  It was just what I was taught so its the way I do it.

Last tweak, instead of mixing the vinegar and soda early on, I was always taught to wait until the end and mix it, and then fold it in after everything is added.  So after you add the vanilla, mix the soda and vinegar together and fold into the cake.  Then I put the cake into two 10" cake pans. I prefer doing the 3 layers, but I was feeling a little lazy...

Honestly, I highly suggest trying this recipe, everyone LOVED it and I cannot say enough good things about it!

The frosting recipe was an old family recipe given to my Mother by one of her best friends Mom.  We have always used this recipe and its the only way we like the cake.  Sometimes, this cake is made with a cheese cream frosting, and I could not hate it more.  I love this recipe, its the traditional rough recipe and if made right you will never go back.  The key to this cake is to follow the directions EXACTLY and measure EVERYTHING, and you will not go wrong!  (Also our family is weird and we love this cake after its been refrigerated for a day and the frosting is kinda hard.  You should also try this frosting on a dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache in the middle its to die for!)

Red Velvet Cake Frosting

5 Tablespoon White Flour

1 Cup of Milk

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Butter

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

( I always do 1 T. of Madagascar Vanilla)

In a sauce pan cook flour and milk until it makes a paste stirring constantly.  Here is the key whisk it so that there are no flour chunks in it, and once it gets to a sticky paste consistency, I like to put it in a separate bowl to cool so it doesn't keep cooking.  If it gets hard, you have over cooked it and need to re-do it.  The key is to get smooth frosting, and you dont want little chunks of this paste in it. Once it becomes a paste set aside and let it cool so that it doesn't melt the butter.   Once cooled, in your mixing bowl add butter at room temperature and sugar and mix well.  Once fluffy, add vanilla and mix.  Next add flour mixture and beat on high until nice and fluffy.  It will turn white and look a lot like whipped cream, but heavier.  Once done, spread on your cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.  I typically double this recipe, I always have a little left over frosting, but id rather have extra then not enough!