Red Velvet Cake

We had a few family and friends to visit for a day over the holidays. My parents came up with my grandmother and met up with one of Mom's best friends! We had lunch at a local Japanese steakhouse and Patrick and I hosted everyone at our house for dessert. I requested Patrick bake us a Red Velvet Cake for two reasons. First because it's one of my favorite childhood cakes. And secondly it's red and perfect for Christmas. Patrick researched recipes and found this one from Cook's Country


Red Velvet Cake
2 tbsp natural cocoa powder
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c buttermilk, room temp
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp red food coloring (1 oz bottle)
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c sugar

Adjust oven rack to middle and preheat to 350. Line bottoms of two 9-in pans with parchment paper, grease, and dust with cocoa powder. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp cocoa with red food coloring to make smooth paste. 

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of buttermilk mixture, and repeat until all is mixed (second 1/3 flour, other 1/2 buttermilk, last 1/3 flour). Beat in cocoa mixture until batter is uniform. Give the batter a final stir with rubber spatula. Scrape batter into prepared pans. 

Bake until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and flip onto wire rack. Remove parchment, flip rightside up, and allow to cool completely before frosting.


Cream cheese frosting
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened
2 tbsp sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 c powdered sugar

Beat everything but powdered sugar on medium-high until smooth, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce to medium-low and slowly add sugar, and beat until smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes.

Look at Patrick go.
And one more cute picture of Lucien!

1 comment:

  1. This was such a fun day. The company and visiting the best, but enjoyed the Japanese steakhouse and the red velvet cake was delicious. Also one of my favorite childhood (at least back to high school) memories!

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