My first Red Velvet Cake. I used an 8" square pan for the three layer Red Velvet Cake, between each layer was a luscious chocolate filling with mini chocolate chips, and topped with a cream cheese frosting.
After searching the web and my friend's trial with the recipe from Southern Living's Red Velvet Cake being too dry, I found these wonderful recipes for Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting in Nancie McDermott's cookbook Southern Cakes. This is a wonderful book! The filling recipe was found in Tish Boyle's The Cake Book. I love the drizzled chocolate look with the mini chocolate chips.
This cake came out moist and a beautiful dark red.
Here are the cake and frosting recipes below. I already found the Red Velvet Cake recipe posted on the web, so I don't feel too guilty posting these recipes here. This is an excellent cake cookbook. I have tried several of her recipes and they all are delicious!
From Nancie McDermott's book Southern Cakes (pg. 103):
Nobody knows for sure where this cake comes from, but lost of people agree with me that it is one magnificent cake. It's signature carmine coloration is dazzling, and I adore it's tangy little grace not of flavor, created by the unusual combination of vinegar, buttermilk, and cocoa in the batter. Red food coloring is the not-so-secret ingredient responsible for it's sassy color. Try gel paste food coloring if you'd like to experiment with another route to red.
Red Velvet Cake
Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk*
2 tablespoons cocoa
One 1-oz bottle (2 tablespoons) red food coloring
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar
TO MAKE THE CAKE, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans generously, 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. Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk. Combine the cocoa 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.
ADD ABOUT A THIRD of the flour mixture, and then about half of the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed, and mixing 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 read batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.
BAKE at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until the layers 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 or folded kitchen towels for 15 minutes. Then turn them out on the racks or on plates, remove the paper, and turn top side up to cool completely.
*NOTE: If you don't have buttermilk, stir 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup of milk and let stand for 10 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting (pg. 148)
Makes enough for one 3-layer cake, one 13-by-9 inch cake or 24 cupcakes.
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (1 cup)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
One 1-pound box (3 2/3 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
IN A MEDIUM BOWL, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat with a mixer on medium speed to mix well. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat at hight speed until the frosting is fluffy and smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl and mix everything well. Spread the frosting on a cooled cake, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Happy Birthday Payton!
