Recipe Thursday #31: Red Velvet Cake

I've only received like eleventy-billion requests for me to post this recipe in the last few weeks. I figured it was time to please the people! This was passed on to me from a dear friend and I've tweaked it a little bit. It's definitely the best red velvet cake I've ever had! And the homemade cream cheese frosting is really the "icing on top" (I'm bad, I know). I made one of these last week for my sister, but it was devoured so quickly I couldn't snap any pictures. I promise to add one when I make the next cake.

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

• 2 2/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 - 1 ounce bottle red food coloring
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease 2 - 9 inch cake pans and set aside
   
3. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt
4. Add eggs to flour mixture, one at a time, and mix well on low speed
5. Add oil, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix well
   
6. Add food coloring and mix well
7. Add vinegar and mix on medium speed until well blended
8. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test
9. Cool in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely before frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 - 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
• 1 cup unsalted butter
  
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Let cream cheese and butter soften to room temperature in large mixing bowl
2. Add vanilla and mix well on medium speed
3. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until creamy
4. Use half of the frosting to crumb coat the cake layers, then chill before using rest of frosting for the finish coat