Red Velvet Cake

A very good friend got a real job and is leaving the state.  When she invited a group of us over for a last hurrah, I offered to make dessert.  I wasn't sure what I was going to make, but then I saw this recipe for Red Velvet Cake while investigating the difference between white and red velvet cake.

 

 I mentioned the possibility of making it and the response was EXTREMELY positive.  It seemed fitting, since it is a Texas recipe and this is about leaving Texas.

However, I did not want to the exact Adams recipe, because it involved buying several ingredients that I generally do not use.  I am not particularly confident about playing with this type of recipe because baking is more of a science than an art and it can go very, very wrong.  Very wrong.  Luckily, someone else modified the recipe for me at the New York Times.  The Ermine Icing was very intriguing to me. 

Red Velvet Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons cocoa, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon vinegar and milk to 1 cup)
1 tablespoon vinegar

Ermine Icing

5 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1.)  Soften butter.

2.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

3.) Butter and cocoa two or three 9-inch cake pans.  Be sure to get the edges/corners.  Use one of the three tablespoons cocoa.  You can technically butter and flour the pan, or spray it with baking spray, but the outside will have white splotches which is not pretty (but will be covered by icing anyway).

4.) Cream butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, mixing after each addition.  Add vanilla.

5.) In a small bowl, mix the last two tablespoons of cocoa with the red food coloring. Add to the butter mixture.

6.) Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

7.)  Alternate additions of the buttermilk and the dry ingredients.  I used about a third of the flour at a time and half the buttermilk.

8.)  Divide the batter evenly between the pans. 

9.)  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes (if you used two pans like me, instead of three, it could take more than 25 minutes). 

10.)  While the cakes are baking, make the cooked flour part of the Ermine Icing.
           a.) Whisk the flour into the milk in a saucepan.  Cook on medium heat (keep it simmering),     
                 until it is a pudding-like consistency.

          b.) Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and salt. 
           c.) Put the mixture in another bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the whole surface is
                 covered.

          d.)  Cool completely.

11.) Cool the cakes in their pans.  COMPLETELY.  I was impatient about this and regretted it after I frosted the cake.

12.)  Continue the icing after the flour mixture has cooled completely. 
            a.)  Cream the butter and sugar.

            b.)  Add the flour mixture in small batches.

            c.) Keep beating the mixture until it is light and fluffy, like whipped cream.

13.) Assemble and frost the cake.  Not when it is hot, like I did, or the frosting will melt in the middle and the cake will shift in transit.  I was very unhappy (but it still tasted wonderful).

I can't quite describe the icing, but it was so good.  It tasted almost like whipped cream.  Lovely.

There were after pictures, but I don't know what happened to them.  If they were here, you could see the destruction that happened as I drove the cake to my friend's house.  It was super disappointing.  However, the cake was NOT super disappointing.  I ate it for breakfast two days later.