Random Thoughts by Gena: Ready For Red Velvet (Red Velvet Cake Recipe)

I have been searching for a good red velvet cake recipe. Most that I can find online are pretty much the same in terms of ingredients and measure so I guess there's a standard recipe for this kind of cake.

It's time to make some cake! Click here for the printable recipe.

What you need:

For the Cake:

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 cup White Sugar

2 Large Eggs

2 1/2 cups Cake Flour

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/2 tsp salt

1cup Buttermilk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Tbsp Red Food Coloring

1 tsp Vinegar

1 tsp Baking Soda

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

9oz Cream Cheese

2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

Notes:
It can be difficult to find buttermilk in liquid form if you are in the Philippines. Groceries usually only carries regular milk brands. Not to worry because you can add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to regular milk to substitute real buttermilk. Buttermilk is tangy and adding lemon juice or vinegar will make up for the taste you are looking for with real buttermilk.

To Make the Cake:

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Use a whisk or spoon to mix. Set aside. Mixture should look like this.

In a mixer or separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix the butter until fluffy then add sugar and mix again. The resulting mixture should be grainy.

Add eggs. One at a time.

Add the vanilla.

Add the food coloring.

Alternately add your flour mixture and buttermilk. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture. I would normally add 1/3 of the flour then 1/2 of the milk first.

With this next step, you have to move quite quickly. Make sure you have your pan ready, greased and lined with parchment at the bottom.

Combine the vinegar with the baking soda. Quickly mix and fold into the batter.

My batter looks like this. Not too thin and quite smooth and creamy.

You can pour it all in an 8-inch pan. Or if you have two pans you can divide the batter among the two pans. This way you do not need to cut the cake in half when assembling. I only have 1 pan so I poured all the batter in.

Level the top with spatula and place in oven to bake for 30-35 mins.

While that is baking, you can start your Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Then add the vanilla.

Use more powdered sugar if the frosting is still too soft. It it becomes too thick, thin with a teaspoon of milk.

You are looking for this consistency.

Check on your cake. You will know it is done when you put your finger on top and it springs back. The sides should also pull away from the pan a little bit.

Assembly:

Let the cake totally cool first. If it is warm, the buttercream will melt.

Once cool, cut it in two equal parts horozontally. I am not going to gift this cake so I just let it sit on a pretty plate instead of a cake board.

I also flatten the part that rose while baking and turn it over so that the bottom is on top. This will make a more level top.

Add frosting in between the two slabs of cake.

By this time you would notice how crumbly this cake is. This is because of the leavening used to make it rise that is the vinegar and baking soda.

Prepare to crumb coat. Crumb coating is important for you to ensure that no crumbs will show when you frost the cake.

Here is the crumb coated cake. Notice that some red on the sides are still showing.

It is best to chill for a few minutes before frosting.

Here is the frosted cake. No special technique needed. Just gently spread your frosting and try smooth it as much as you can. It would also help if you frost the sides first then the top.