Saturday, January 19, 2008

A cake for Valentine's Day


V-day is coming up, and it's one of my favorite holidays, mostly because we can actually take some time to enjoy it (February is one of our slowest months). Plus, it's the only day that red and pink go together.

Only for you, dear readers, will I share my super secret Red Velvet Cake recipe, which actually belonged to the Waldorf-Astoria, and then to Erin's grandma, then Erin. But Erin gave it to me, so now it's mine.

My favorite foods are old-fashioned, 'throwback' foods, and this fits the bill. Any person who makes this for their spouse for V-day can't go wrong. I make cupcakes from this recipe (reduce baking time and keep checking) and they're always a hit.

Recipe in comments.

6 comments:

Bridget said...

Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake

Cake:
½ cup Unsalted Butter (softened - don't skip this)
1½ cups Sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces red food coloring (seriously)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2¼ cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar

Frosting:
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Cake:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, then butter and flour the paper (this is optional, but I’ve found that it works better to do it).

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Separately, mix food coloring and cocoa, then add to mixture. (Be careful not to mix too quickly at first, or you’ll get food coloring everywhere!)

3. Mix salt and buttermilk, then add to batter, alternating with the flour. Add soda, then vinegar and stir by hand to incorporate.

4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool and cut each layer in half for four layers

For Buttercream Frosting:

1. Cook flour and milk until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, press plastic wrap to surface of mixture and cool completely.

2. Beat sugar (regular granulated sugar), butter and vanilla until very creamy and fluffy, about 10 minutes at high speed.

3. Add the cooled milk mixture to the butter/sugar (make sure it’s completely cooled, or it will melt the butter and ruin the frosting!). Beat until creamy.

4. Frost layers, sides and top

Melissa said...

Yummy!

Dandelionmom said...

These cupcakes are beyond delicious! I hope you're adapting a gf version! ;)

Bridget said...

hmm... quite a challenge. Is food coloring GF?

Dandelionmom said...

McCormick's is!

rockstarpup said...

yummy, I am hungry!