MOIST RED VELVET CAKE AND WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

This red velvet cake is super moist and it has such a light and fluffy homemade cream cheese frosting. I absolutely love making this cake every holiday. Definitely a crowd pleaser in my book.

I have been hooked on this bright red chocolate cake since I was a wee little girl. I have been watching my mom make this cake during the holidays my entire life. And when she makes it, she makes this special homemade frosting similar to a roux. It’s light, not too sweet, and has coconut flakes in it. I have to get this frosting recipe from her one day and attempt to make it myself….

Just like my mom, I have taken on the tradition of making red velvet cakes in my household during the holidays. For some reason I never got the family red velvet recipe from my mom, and stumbled across this recipe years back. I was sitting on the couch getting over a night shift I had just completed, and saw a rerun episode for Sara’s Secret’s on the Food Network. A man that goes by the name of Cakeman Raven was on the show sharing his Red Velvet Cake Recipe. His recipe didn’t look too complicated for a novice baker like myself, so I decided to give it a spin and see how this car drives..

When I came to after a few hours of sleep and slumber the baking begin. Made It…. Loved it…. Never Looked Back…..

This cake was super moist, and I was in love with the fluffy light cream cheese frosting. After making this recipe over and over, I have adjusted some of the ingredients to suit my family’s taste. I decreased the oil to only one cup, which still allows for a moist cake. I also increased the cocoa powder to get more of a chocolate flavor. When it comes to the frosting I decided to cut down on how much of the sugar I used in the cream cheese frosting. I use 3 cups of the shifted 4 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting. This gives me a lightly sweetened frosting that’s not too sweet and allows the cream cheese flavor to permeate through. When I make it for folks, this cake disappears quick. My new catering clients not just ate a sample during our tasting but took to go slices home because they loved it so much. (I even saw them eating the cake while they were walking to their car). It’s that good….

A truly moist red velvet cake with a light fluffy whipped cream cheese icing.

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients:
(Make sure ingredients are at room temperature before you start the cooking process.)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
2 tablespoons dutch pressed cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Frosting Ingredients:
1 pound cream cheese , softened
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Instructions

Cake Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray three 9 inch cake pans with baking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, shift together the dry ingredients for the cake. (I usually use my blender mixing bowl for this part to decrease how many dishes I use.)
In another large bowl use a whisk to mix all of the cake's wet ingredients together. These ingredients include the vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
In a standing mixer, combine both the dry and wet ingredients for the cake. Mix the batter just until the mixture is blended. Scrap sides of bowl with flat spatula to incorporate all ingredients into the batter.
Pour the batter into each greased baking pan, making sure to put an even amount of the batter into each pan.
Place the pans in the oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick appears clean after inserted into the cake. At about the 16 minute mark, start checking for doneness. While baking the cakes, rotate the cakes halfway during the cooking process.
When the cake layers are done, let them cool completely. Once cooled, frost the cake.
Frosting Instructions:
Place the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a standing mixer bowl. Mix the ingredients for about 5 minutes on medium speed until the frosting is light and fluffy. While mixing the ingredients, occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients get mixed together.
After the cakes have cooled frost the cake.

Recipe Notes

Cooking Note:

I used 3 cups of the shifted 4 cups of powdered sugar. Sweeten according to your liking by adding half a cup of the powdered sugar at a time. The more sugar you add, the thicker the frosting becomes.

When the frosting or frosted cake is placed in the refrigerator, the frosting does thicken up, but once set out for about 5 to 10 minutes, the cream cheese frosting softens back up and has that light texture.

If you don't like the light texture of the frosting, before frosting the cake, let the frosting sit in the refrigerator until it becomes slightly stiff.

This frosting recipe allows for an abundance of frosting to either make a crumb coat, allow for quick fixes if you mess up during the frosting process, thicker layers of frosting, etc.

As you can see, I have two sets of pictures in this recipe post. One cake picture has three layers, and the other cake pictures have two layers. When I make the three layer cake, I use 9 inch cake pans and follow the recipe directions I have posted. When I made a two layer cake, I used two 10 inch cake pans, and cooked the cake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 15 minutes. This recipe has enough cake batter to use either the three 9 inch cake pans, or the two 10 inch cake pans.

For anyone that thinks a cup of vegetable oil is not enough: In the original recipe, he calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of vegetable oil for the cake batter. Some think this is too much oil, and it makes the cake too oily. I like both his amount of vegetable and the amount I use..... Both amounts produce moist layers. You just have to make sure not to overcook you cake, start checking your cakes at the 15 to 16 minute mark....

Recipe Source:savoryspicerack.com