Red Velvet Cake

We had the pleasure of hosting a pre-birthday celebration for my uncle’s 60th a few weekends ago. His three adoring daughters gathered friends and family together to celebrate with him. On the night everyone arrived they planned a spread of his favorite things that could have fed us for days. That’s without the copious amounts of pizza we added to the mix. Of course, I begged them to allow me to make the cake. Thankfully, they acquiesced and mentioned that red velvet is his favorite. This worked out perfectly, as I had pulled this recipe back in July but decided to make a s’mores cheesecake instead. I kept it in my file, knowing that it had potential for a future celebration.

For those of you who aren’t from the South, a red velvet cake is anything that fits these criteria:

1. Is a buttermilk cake.

2. Contains cocoa.

3. Is red (due to lots and lots of red food coloring).

See? I wasn’t exaggerating.

It usually, though not always, is coated in cream cheese frosting. Sometimes the frosting is covered in pecans. In this case the pecans were replaced with berries. Though I haven’t made red velvet cake before, I would have a hard time straying from this recipe in the future. It was incredibly moist and fluffy, with a light (not overpowering) cocoa taste. As far as the icing goes, it contains cream cheese. What more is there to say?

Red Velvet Cake with Raspberries and Blueberries
Serves 12

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

For frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake. Arrange 1 basket raspberries and 1/2 basket blueberries atop frosting, pressing lightly to adhere. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange remaining berries decoratively over top of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

From Bon Appetit