We were making Red Velvet cakes before it became cool. In the sake of tradition, our cake is iced with a french-style butter roux icing (also called ermine icing) which is very light and fluffy but time-consuming to prepare. As a kid, I was always amazed that Mom would put 2 bottles of red food coloring in the batter so I asked her to make half of the batter blue so we could have a red white and blue cake. However, the blue layer came out really dull and unappetizing – probably from the chocolate. It still tasted good though!
Red Velvet Cake
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 10
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 C shortening
- 1 1/2 C sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbls cocoa
- 2 Oz red food coloring
- 1 Tsp vanilla
- 1 Tsp salt
- 1 C buttermilk
- 2 1/2 C sifted cake flour
- 1 1/2 Tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbls vinegar
Frosting
- 1 C Whole Milk
- 4 Tbls All-Purpose Flour
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
- 1 C unsalted Butter
- 1 C Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
Instructions
Cake
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Cream shortening & sugar; add eggs.
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Make paste of cocoa & food coloring, add to creamed mixture & mix well.
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Add salt & vanilla to buttermilk.
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Alternately add buttermilk & flour into shortening mixture, mixing well.
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Mix baking soda to vinegar & fold gently into batter. DO NOT BEAT!
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Makes 3 layers.
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Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes.
Frosting
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In small saucepan, whisk flour and salt into milk and place over medium heat.
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Cook mixture, whisking frequently, until thickened.
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Pour into a bowl to stop cooking, covering with plastic wrap on the surface to prevent crusting.
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In a stand mixer, begin creaming the butter and sugar until fluffy.
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Add vanilla and mix to combine.
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When milk/flour mixture is cooled to approx room temperature, add 1 TB at a time to the creamed butter mixture while the mixer is running on medium speed.
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Slowly but surely the gluten will pull in the butter into a suspension.
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You should have an extremely fluffy, light and buttery frosting when completed.