I never have quite enough food coloring to make a truly red Red Velvet cake... It's kind of tragic really. They always end up more of a pinkish hue; however, what they lack in color, they make up for in flavor. :) Or at least, that is what I like to tell myself. I was in a hurry, so I didn't want to make the cake completely from scratch, but I also didn't want it to taste like a cake mix. This one met both demands and turned out pretty good. I think the addition of these different ingredients really dressed it up. Just make sure you have enough red food coloring. :) I thought it would be fun to add blueberries to the mix and make it kind of a festive patriotic dessert.
Happy Independence Day!
Solid
vegetable oil shortening, for greasing the pans
Flour, for
dusting the pans
1
(18.5-ounce) package plain butter recipe golden cake mix
2 ½
tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups
buttermilk
1 (1-ounce)
bottle red food coloring
8
tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon
baking soda
1 tablespoon
distilled white vinegar
Place rack
in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 3 9-inch
round cake pans with shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out excess flour
and set the pans aside.
Place the
cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, food coloring, melted butter, eggs,
vanilla, baking soda and vinegar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an
electric mixer on low speed until ingredients are incorporated, 1 minute. Stop
machine and scrape down side of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase the mixer
speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping the side of the bowl
again if needed. The batter should look well-blended. Divide batter evenly
among 3 prepared pans, about 1 ½ cups batter per pan, smoothing the tops with
rubber spatula. Place pans in the oven. If your oven is not large enough to
hold 3 pans on center rack, place 2 on that rack and one in the center of the
rack above.
Bake cake
layers until they just start to pull away from the sides of the pans and the
tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 17 to 21 minutes. The
layer on the higher rack may bake faster so test it for doneness first.
Transfer
cake pans to wire racks and cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the
edge of each layer and give the pans a good shake to loosen cakes. Invert each
layer onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another rack so the cakes are
right side up. Let the layers cool completely. Make frosting.
To assemble
the cake, transfer one cake layer, right side up, to a serving platter. Spread
the top with some of the frosting. Place a second cake layer, right side up, on
top of the first and frost the top. Repeat this process with the third layer.
Frost the side of the cake with a thin coat just to set the crumbs. Use the
remaining frosting to go back over this and liberally frost the side, working
with smooth, clean strokes. To make slicing easier, place uncovered cake in the
refrigerator until frosting sets, 20 minutes.
Cream Cheese
Frosting:
Place 1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese and 1 stick (8 tablespoons)
of room-temperature butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric
mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stop machine and
scrape down side of bowl with rubber spatula. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and
4 cups sifted powdered sugar; beat on medium speed until well combined.
Increase the mixer speed to high and beat the frosting for 1 minute longer.