Red Velvet If You Please

I missed last months cake for The Cake Slice Bakers but there was no way I was going to miss the cake this month. After all, it is one of my favorite cakes ever- Red Velvet Cake! I'll eat this cake any which way I can get it. I'll eat it in cupcake form, cake balls, from the grocery store bakery department and from a box. I don't discriminate when it comes to Red Velvet :-)



Props to you if you got the musical reference (turn your speakers on!) in my title :-) I was however a little hesitant when it came to the frosting. It's a milk and flour cooked frosting in which you add butter, sugar, nuts and coconut. I liked the texture in it but I've made a cooked frosting before and it was a disaster. That doesn't mean this one would have been bad but I went the cream cheese frosting route- always a winner in my book! I left out the coconut but I did add the chopped pecans and it was delicious!


I ate a slice of this cake immediately after I frosted it and while it was fall apart tender and oh so moist, it didn't make for a lovely picture. So I refrigerated it then sliced it for a cleaner slice. Pretty, no? I had a slice of this cold and a slice at room temperature and the room temperature slice was much better so keep that in mind when you eat this.



If you've never had Red Velvet cake before let me tell you a bit about it. It's not a white cake colored red (as I once read and was very offended by) and it's not a chocolate cake either although it does have a tiny bit of cocoa in it. It's a slightly tangy cake and moist (if it's a good recipe). And it just happens to be red, although I'm sure you could color it any color you'd like or leave it out if you don't care for the dye-- but that's part of the appeal, dontcha think?

 

Red Velvet Cake
from Southern Cakes

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• 2½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk*
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp red food colouring
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line them with waxed paper or kitchen parchment. Grease the paper and flour the pans.

Prepare three separate mixtures for the batter. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and use a fork to mix them together well. Combine the cocoa powder and the red food coloring in a small bowl, mashing and stirring them together to make a thick smooth paste.

In a large bowl, beat the butter with a mixer at low speed for 1 minute until creamy and soft. Add the sugar and then beat well for 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until the mixture is creamy, fluffy and smooth. Scrape the cocoa-food coloring paste into the batter and beat to mix it in evenly.


Combine the vanilla with the milk. Add a third of the flour mixture and then about half the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed. Mix only enough to make the flour or liquid disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the last of the flour in the same way.

In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar and stir well. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly mix this last mixture into the red batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the layers are spring back when touched lightly in the center and are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.

Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Then turn them out onto the racks, remove the paper and turn top side up again to cool completely. Frost with frosting of your choice.

NOTE: If you can’t find buttermilk, stir 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar into 1 cup of milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes before using.

Cream Cheese Pecan Frosting from Monica H.

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Then add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Fold in chopped pecans. Use immediately.

Be sure to check out all the other Cake Slice Bakers' creations!