Red Velvet "Wedding Cake"

To celebrate our 6-month anniversary (Yes, it's silly, but it's still a big deal to us!), I decided to try and recreate our wedding cake. Well, I did say "try".

The real cake is from Bluebonnet Bakery in Fort Worth (our florist did the flowers). My version is from an ancient Hershey Chocolate cookbook that used to belong to my grandmother. I poured through dozens of red velvet recipes before settling on this one - for some reason, most people make red velvet with loads of food coloring and very little cocoa. Actually, the reaction between the cocoa and vinegar makes it a reddish color - then, you only need a tiny bit of food coloring to really make it pop.

If you are wondering why I am so into room-temperature eggs, it's because they actually will fluff up better than when they are cold. That's your MM for the day...

Red Velvet Cake

-1/2 c butter, room temperature
-1 1/2 c sugar
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs, room temperature
-1 tsp red food coloring
-2 c flour
-1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 tsp salt
-1 c buttermilk
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tbsp vinegar

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixer on medium. Add the eggs one at a time, then the food coloring. Mix for 5 minutes on medium speed.

In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder, flour and salt together. With the mixer on low, alternate adding buttermilk and the flour mixture until well mixed.

In another bowl, mix the baking soda and vinegar together (it will fizz up). Carefully fold into the batter (do not mix!).

Pour the batter into two 9-inch round cake pans that have been greased and floured (MM: when making chocolate cake, you can use cocoa powder or hot cocoa mix instead of flour, so your cake won't have white spots on it). Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool for at least an hour before frosting.

This recipe only filled the two cake pans about halfway. If you want a dramatic looking cake, with lots of height, I would suggest doubling the mix and making at least three layers.

Cream Cheese Frosting

-1 pound cream cheese
-2 sticks butter
-3 c powdered sugar
-1 tsp vanilla

Let the cream cheese and butter sit out for 10 minutes before mixing all of these ingredients together on high for 5 minutes, or until it's creamy. If you like your frosting very sweet, just add more sugar. Let it cool in the fridge for about 10 minutes before frosting your cake, otherwise, it can get goopy and uncooperative.