Chitra's Cuisine: Red Velvet Cake

Chitra's Cuisine 1st Anniversary!!

Hello Everybody!

It is my pleasure to celebrate the First Anniversary of Chitra's Cuisine with all of you. It has been a fascinating journey so far. All through this year, I've been crazy collecting recipes, reading fellow bloggers, talking to friends on cooking, buying cutlery, reading magazines for creative photography, learning the art of photography itself, watching lot of food channels, discovering useful tips, eventually translating the efforts into interesting receipes!! I hope you liked them. With your support, I wish to pursue my passion for cooking and present some exciting receipes in the forthcoming years.

At this moment, i would like to thank my relatives, friends, my viewers and my blogger mates for the encouragement and constructive feedback towards the betterment of Chitras Cuisine everyday. A very special thanks to my HUBBY who inspires me to come up with better photographs every day. Finally, Super Thanks to my sweet kiddo for allowing me to spend long hours in Kitchen.

Celebrating Chitra's Cuisine 1st Anniversary with Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbspns regular cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbspns liquid red food coloring

1 tsp white distilled vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting - 3 boxes(Approximately)

*To substitute cake flour for all purpose flour, use 3/4 cup all purpose flour(bleached) plus 2 tablepspoons corn starch(both sifted) for every cup of cake flour.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F and place rack in center of oven. Butter two 9 inch(23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap them in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator at least for an hour (or overnight).

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake.

Serves 10 - 12