" How to Bake a Red Velvet Cake" by Bria M

 

I was born on the 27th of December. Every Christmas my Grana would bake a Red Velvet cake to celebrate the holidays and my birthday. There was no Christmas without it. When I was younger, I tried store-bought red velvet cakes for the first time and thought it tasted awful compared to my Grana’s cake. I enjoyed how every bite of my home-made delicious cake made me joyful on the inside and how smoothly it melted in my mouth. I never was the type of person to like desserts but when walnuts were added, it was a good balance for me because it wasn't too sweet. Now that my Grana is getting a bit older, she is unable to bake the cake anymore and decided to pass the recipe down to my sister and I that I would like to share with you all. The Red Velvet cake is not as easy to make as other cakes because you have to be precise. For the past few years my sister and I have been the ones to bake the Red Velvet cake for the family. We are still struggling to master the recipe. It is a lot of pressure because everyone expects it to taste like my Grana’s. It is only made once a year so my family always looks forward to it. Last year when my sister and I made the cake, the cake was too moist and was falling apart, but it was still delicious. Our goal is to bake it just like my Grana and pass down the recipe to our future generations. You should give it a try! The baking instructions and tools are down below. Enjoy!

 

Tools Needed:

●     3 round 9 inch circled pans

       Why? The Red Velvet cake is a layered cake. When the cakes have cooled in their separate   pans, then we will plop them on top of each other to make it into a layered cake.

●     Mixer

Why? You will need a mixer to be able to mix the ingredients to get the batter as smooth as possible or else the cake will come out bumpy.

●     Sifter

Why? A sifter is important to have because you will need to to sift the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and flour so that the batter will be smooth and there will not be chunks of flour in it.

Ingredients Needed:

●     Vegetable Oil

●     Granulated Sugar

●     Flour

●     Large Eggs

●     Baking Soda

●     Cocoa

●     Buttermilk

●     Vinegar

●     Vanilla Extract

●     Red Food Coloring

●     Walnuts (optional)

●     Unsalted butter

 

Preparations in Measurements:

●     2 cups of vegetable oil

●     1 ½ cup of sugar

●     2 eggs

●     2 ½ cup of flour

●     1 table-spoon of baking soda

●     2 table-spoon of cocoa

●     1 cup of buttermilk

●     1 table-spoon of vinegar

●     1 table-spoon of vanilla extract

●     2 oz. Red Food Coloring

 

Detailed Step by Step Process:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 round 9 inch cake pans and make sure to line parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. Butter the parchment paper.

2.      Sift the cocoa, baking soda, salt, and flour into a big bowl.

3.      Whisk eggs and sugar in a separate bowl.

4.      Slowly stir the vegetable oil in.

5.      Add the mixture of the cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt slowly while stirring.

6.      Gradually pour in the buttermilk making sure to stir the mixture well after each ingredient is added.

7.      Add in the red food coloring and vanilla extract and stir.

8.      Distribute the batter evenly among the 3 circle pans and bake for about 40 minutes.

9.      To check if the cake is done, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and if the toothpick comes out clean, then it is ready, if not, let it cook a bit more.

10.  After the cakes are done, let them sit on the wire rack to cool.

11.  After the cakes have cooled, you are going to grab a cake platter and plop the 3 cakes on top of each other to make a layered cake. (The butter in the pan should help the cakes slip right out of the circled pans)

Ingredients for Frosting:

●     1 8oz package of cream cheese

●     1 cup of chopped nuts (walnuts)

●     1 box of powdered sugar (sifted)

●     1 stick of margarine (substitute for butter)

How to make Frosting:

1.      In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy

2.      Add the sifted powdered sugar to the bowl until the mixture comes out smooth.

3.      Add the vanilla extract and crushed nuts

4.      Once finished with the frosting, lather it between the layers of the cake. All the sides and top of the cake should be covered in the frosting.

5.      To top off the look, garnish the cake with pecans or walnuts.

 

Finishing product should look similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credited to: Trisha YearWood from Food Network Magazine