Red Velvet Cake

This past weekend, the husband and I had some friends over to play Rock Band. I wanted to make a fabulous dessert for us, and decided on Red Velvet cake. As much as I like the cake, I had never made it before, so I wasn't sure what to look for in a recipe. They all had some small, subtle differences; I didn't know if those differences would make a difference in the taste or quality of the cake. Ultimately, I settled on a recipe I found on FoodNetwork. It did not disappoint - this cake was delicious. In fact, I might go have a piece now.

Red Velvet Cake
Recipe from FoodNetwork, adapted

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
Cream cheese icing, recipe follows

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) round layer cake pans.**

Sift flour, baking soda and cocoa together. Beat sugar and eggs together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together oil, vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla. Add to the bowl of eggs and sugar and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet mixture by alternating the buttermilk and dry ingredients. Always start with the flour and end with the flour.

Pour batter into pans. Tap them on the table to level out the batter and release air bubbles. Bake for 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the middle comes out clean but be careful not to over bake or you'll end up with a dry cake.**

Let layers cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out of pan. Cool completely before frosting.

**I baked the cake in a 9x13 pan for about 35 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 box confectioner's sugar (about 5-6 cups)
2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until combined. Add the powdered sugar, about 2 cups at a time, and beat until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

from: http://elizabethscooking.blogspot.com/2009/03/red-velvet-cake.html