Red Velvet Cake....... Finally!!

So, like most things that end up on here, I've wanted to make a red velvet cake for ages. Yesterday I finally got my act together and made one. And I'm in love, again. I'm gonna get a cake belly.

So I did my research.... by research I mean I read a few blogs, and looked at a lot of pretty pictures. From what I gathered, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the red velvet cake originates from somewhere in the southern area of the USA. Also, according to my research you will either like it or loath it. I'm of the former group, although I dont think I could eat a whole cake worth in one sitting. Maybe.

I picked my favourite researched cake, and went to work. I will post the recipe here as I've made a few adjustments, and changed the quantities from ounces etc to grams, and confirmed some ingredients as we dont have cake flour, that I've seen, in Australia.
So the original recipe is from pinch my salt. I loved her post about the cake and the history behind this particular recipe.

RED VELVET CAKE (made 6 layers, 6" cake tin... I ate 2)
2 1/4 cups twice sifted plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
50ml. red food coloring (or 1 tub, 28g, wiltons red gel & 50ml queens pillar box red)
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Butter and flour your cake tins, the original recipe suggest you cook them all at once, but I didn't as I only have 1 6" tin. Nothing happened. It didn't effect the batter, just made it a little darker, but the outcome was still good.

2. Sift together the plain flour, baking powder, and salt over baking paper; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.

 My OCD sifting

Start of paste, I added the queens red as well

Pasty

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. 

Butter & Sugar

So I played with my butter sugar mix a little..... it was fun :)

 
 Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.

Egg 1

Egg 2

All combined

Cocoa food colour paste & vanilla

I may have splashed the food colour a bit.... I mean, those damn vampires are everywhere now, sparkling in the sunlight and shit....

All mixed in with out too much mess

Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

Flour mix

Buttermilk, I'd never used it before, its really thick, so I played with it a little.

More flour

More Milk

More flour

All mixed

4. Make sure you have cake pans buttered, floured, and nearby.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda.  Yes, it will fizz!  Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine.  Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in a preheated 170 degree oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check early, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Action shot!!!

In the tin

5. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes from the pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, then gently lift the pan.  Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting. Frost with buttercream or cream cheese icing (recipe below).

Cream Cheese Frosting

500g. cream cheese, softened

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Turn mixer to low speed and blend in pure icing sugar and vanilla extract.  Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.  If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth)

butter & cream cheese, just chillin'

sugar

last lot of sugar

Crumb coated see finish pic at the start :)