Red Velvet cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

Red Velvet Cake: In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)



Cream Cheese Frosting: In your food processor, or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Cover and place the frosting in the refrigerator for an hour or two, or until it is firm enough to spread.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut.

Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) four layer cake.

Red Velvet Cake:
2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/2 (360 ml) cups heavy whipping cream

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted


I’ve never made this type of cake before, but my brother was out here visiting, and it was his birthday, and this is favorite cake, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I looked up a bunch of recipes on line, and I found this one at JoyofBaking.com It looked like the most interesting, partly because the frosting looked better then the others.

The interesting thing about this cake, which I have never seen before is the Baking soda and vinegar combo. All of the recipes for this type of cake had that. It’s a cool thing, you mix the vinegar and baking soda and it fizzes up like crazy, then you mix it in. I’m not sure, but I would be willing to bet that was what gave it such a great lightness, and fabulous texture in general. As for the “red” of the red velvet, it was actually just red food coloring. I was a little disappointed, I thought there would be something special in it that gave it a redness, otherwise, what’s the point? Still this cake rocked. I totally loved it! The frosting looks like it would be a big pain, because it’s in two parts, but it’s really no big deal at all, and you do it in advance too, so it’s totally out of the way, and ready when you need it.

I didn’t do the step where you put it in the freezer and then cut each one in half, I decided to just do a two layer cake instead. There was a little extra frosting, but not enough that any went to waste (there was much frosting tasting).

This was a fun cake to make, and it was really tasty too. I’d do this one again.