On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

…..Red Velvet Cake.

(Side note: I hope that you realize that I am using “my true love gave to me” because of the song; through these posts I am showing you what I love about Christmas.  My true love can’t cook at all and certainly can’t make a Red Velvet Cake to save his life.   I just wanted to make that clear.  Carry on.)

Photo credit: foodnetwork.com

Yum!  I love Red Velvet Cake!  I grew up eating Red Velvet Cake during the holidays because my family is from The South, but I was surprised to learn that not everyone in The North where I grew up has had that delicious pleasure.  Now I think it is more popular everywhere, due in part I’m sure to celebrity chefs like Paula Deen.  Here in Atlanta where I currently live Red Velvet Cake is so popular that you can buy it anytime of the year in the local supermarket.   To be sure my family does eat our share of Red Velvet Cake and cupcakes throughout the year (our review was posted in the summer), but to me it is still a holiday cake.   We are blessed to have great southern bakeries near us that make fantastic cakes, but still none is as good as my Aunt Vernelda’s recipe.   I don’t know why, but the baking gene in my family skipped my mother, although she’s a good cook.  My grandmother and all my aunts are good bakers, but the family knows that any cake at my mother’s house is going to come from a box or the grocery store.    Maybe it is because of my Betty Crocker childhood that I took an interest in baking as an adult and enjoy making cakes from scratch.  Each Christmas I either make a Lemon Pound Cake (B. Smith’s recipe), my friend Cheryl’s Secret Almond Pound Cake or my Aunt’s Red Velvet Cake.

If you try to make this recipe, don’t let the cake get too dry; Red Velvet Cake has to be moist to be good.  The crunchy pseudo-hippy in me cringes at the red food coloring in this recipe.  If you have an alternative way to use a natural ingredient to make the cake red without altering the flavor, please let me know

RED VELVET CAKE

Cake Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 bottle red food coloring

Icing Ingredients:

1 box powered sugar

1 stick of butter at room temperature

1 stick of cream cheese at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for cake batter: Beat eggs and add sugar.  Beat again.  Alternate milk, flour and oil, beating in between.  Add baking soda, cocoa, vinegar and food coloring.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Insert a toothpick to see if it’s done (it should come out clean).  Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

Directions for icing: Beat butter, add sugar, add vanilla and cream cheese.  Spread on a cool cake.

*****************

The 12 Days of Christmas by Funkidivagirl

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me….the words to the song.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Christmas cards.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Chili Dawg.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a Christmas vacation.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Santa Claus.