Red Velvet Birthday Cake

I made this red velvet birthday present cake for a friend's birthday, but also as a test run for a wedding cake that I will be making later this year. I made one batch of the batter for each layer of the cake (essentially tripling the recipe) and it worked out beautifully! 

This cake turned out delicious! The crumb was perfect and it had a wonderful, rich, moist flavor! The cream cheese icing didn't hurt either. It was so good!

Since it was a birthday cake, I decided to decorate it with some fondant to make it look like present!

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Red Velvet Cake 

Note: To make a 3 layer 10 inch square cake I tripled this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 2 Tbs COCOA POWDER
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs CANOLA OIL
• 1 cup SUGAR
• 1 EGG, large
• 1/2 cup BUTTERMILK, room temperature
• 1 tsp VANILLA
• 2/3 tsp RED FOOD COLORING PASTE or 1 oz. RED FOOD COLORING
• 1 tsp WHITE VINEGAR
• 1/4 cup BREWED HOT COFFEE

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.
2. Mix the oil, sugar, and egg using an electric mixer. 
3. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring. Mix until everything is well combined.
4. Mix in the vinegar and coffee. 
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
6. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the bowl of the electric mixer. 
7. Once all of the ingredients are well combined, divide the batter equally into greased and floured cake pans. 
8. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes.

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Cream Cheese Icing

NOTE: You will need to double this recipe if you make the full sized cake!

Ingredients:

• 1 sticks BUTTER, softened
• 3 & 3/4 cups POWDERED SUGAR, sifted
• 1 (8 oz.) package of CREAM CHEESE, sifted
• 2 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer cream the butter and cream cheese together using the paddle attachment. 
2. Once the mixture is smooth, turn the mixer down to a low speed and start adding the powdered sugar. 
3. After all of the powdered sugar has been mixed in, add the vanilla. 
4. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and continue mixing for about 3 minutes to make sure everything if fully incorporated. 

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I found this red velvet cake on this website: http://vintagetrinkets.blogspot.sg/2013/08/red-velvet-cake-with-vanilla-cream.html

Fluffy Yellow Cake

This vanilla cake is fluffy and moist and delicious! I'm not sure if it's dense enough to support a wedding cake, but it is perfect on it's own!

To make a 2 layer 9 inch cake you will need: 

• 2 cups SUGAR
• 2 sticks BUTTER, room temperature
• 2 LARGE EGGS, separated, room temperature
• 1 Tbs VANILLA EXTRACT
• 2 cup CAKE FLOUR
• 1 Tbs BAKING POWDER
• 1 tsp SALT
• 1 cup BUTTERMILK, room temperature

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (330 degrees F Accokeek). Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

Measure out the milk and the vanilla in a measuring cup. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients at a medium speed starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Beat the egg whites until they are thick and foamy.

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between two 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

This batter measures about 6 cups in volume.

Cupcakes didn't work out too well...

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Fluffy Yellow Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups SUGAR
• 2 sticks BUTTER, room temperature
• 2 LARGE EGGS, separated, room temperature
• 1 Tbs VANILLA EXTRACT
• 2 cup CAKE FLOUR
• 1 Tbs BAKING POWDER
• 1 tsp SALT
• 1 cup BUTTERMILK, room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. (330 degrees F Accokeek)
2. Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for 2 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks one at a time. 
4. Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Measure out the milk and the vanilla in a measuring cup.
6. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients at a medium speed starting and ending with the dry ingredients. 
7. Beat the egg whites until they are thick and foamy.
8. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula.
9. Divide the batter evenly between two 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

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I found this recipe on the following website: http://divascancook.com/moist-yellow-cake-recipe-old-fashioned/

Nancy's Vanilla Cake

I have been searching for a good vanilla cake recipe for about a year now and I have finally found one that I like! This cake has good flavor and has a fairly dense crumb.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Then use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time.

Whisk together the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Measure out the milk and the vanilla in a measuring cup.

Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients at a medium speed starting and ending with the dry ingredients. 

This batter measured to be about 6 - 6 & 1/2 cups of batter. 

Divide the batter evenly between two 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

Here is a 6 inch cake...

Look at that crumb!

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Nancy's Vanilla Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups SUGAR
• 2 sticks BUTTER, room temperature
• 4 LARGE EGGS, room temperature
• 1 & 1/2 cup CAKE FLOUR
• 1 & 1/4 cup ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
• 2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 3/4 tsp SALT
• 1 cup WHOLE MILK, room temperature
• 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to cream together the sugar and butter for 2 minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time. 
4. Whisk together the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Measure out the milk and the vanilla in a measuring cup.
6. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients at a medium speed starting and ending with the dry ingredients. 
7. Divide the batter evenly between two 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

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I found this recipe on the following website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nancy-fuller/vanilla-birthday-cake-with-chocolate-frosting.html