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How to Make Red Velvet Cake. Bake a red velvet cake whenever you want to serve a dessert
that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. You will need 2.25 c all-purpose flour, sifted
1.0 tsp salt 2.0 tbsp cocoa powder 2 1-ounce bottles of red food coloring 2 sticks of softened
unsalted butter, divided 1.5 c sugar 2 large eggs 1.0 c buttermilk 3.0 tsp vanilla extract,
divided 1.0 tsp baking soda 1.0 tsp white vinegar 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese,
softened 2.0 c powdered sugar 3 9-inch round cake pans Bowls A whisk A wooden spoon Cooling
rack Cake plate A spatula 15-ounce can of beets (optional) Electric mixer (optional)
and pecan halves (optional). Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour
the cake pans. Step 2. Combine the sifted flour and salt in a bowl. Step 3. Pour the
cocoa powder into a small bowl, add the red food coloring, and whisk until smooth. You
can use the juice from one 15-oz. can of beets in place of the food coloring. Step 4. In
a large bowl, beat one stick of butter and sugar by hand or with a mixer at medium speed
until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Step 5. Switch your mixer speed to
low and add the flour a few tablespoons at a time. Alternate mixing flour with adding
the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and dyed cocoa paste. Mix the ingredients until all
the batter is the same red color, but do not overbeat. Step 6. In a small bowl, stir the
baking soda into the vinegar, and then fold it into the batter with a wooden spoon. Step
7. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake until a toothpick comes out
clean, about 30 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes; then invert the layers onto
a rack to cool completely. Step 8. Make the frosting by beating the cream cheese with
one stick of butter until creamy. Beat in 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Gradually beat in
the powdered sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Step 9. When the cake has cooled,
place the first layer on your cake plate or stand, spread frosting on top with a spatula,
add the next layer, frost the top of that, and so on. Once you’ve added the final cake
layer, spread a thin coating of frosting over the entire cake to contain crumbs, and then
refrigerate it for 15 minutes. Step 10. Finish frosting the cake by spreading the frosting
on top and on the sides. Decorate the top with pecan halves if you like. Did you know
Tradition has it that a chef at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel invented red velvet
cake in the 1950s. But it is also rumored to be a southern, Civil War-era invention.