Red Velvet Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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I have been making my own birthday cakes since I was about 13 years old, and now I like to make birthday cakes for friends and family members too. For Donatello’s birthday, I made this Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Red Velvet Cakes are basically yellow cakes lightly flavoured with cocoa and dyed a deep red. Traditionally, Red Velvet Cakes are served with a fluffy white boiled frosting, which sounds gross but is really just a buttercream enriched with custard. However, the trend of pairing a tangy cream cheese frosting is now the norm, as it nicely compliments the subtle chocolate flavour of the cake layers.

Here’s a tip: let the frosted cake cool in the fridge for at least an hour before you eat it. That way, the frosting and filling can firm up a bit and you won’t have messy cake slices like I did. My family couldn’t wait to dig in!

Red Velvet Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Author:

Kiku Corner

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 40 mins

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Ingredients

For the Red Velvet Cake:

• ¼ cup red food colouring
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 1½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 cups sifted icing sugar

Instructions

For the Red Velvet Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease and flour three 9-inch springform cake pans, then line the bottoms with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the food colouring, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter or margarine and sugar until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
5. Add the flour in three portions, alternating with the buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
6. Beat in the salt and the cocoa mixture, until fully incorporated.
7. In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar and baking soda. Stir into the batter until completely incorporated.
8. Divide the batter between the three pans.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
10. Let cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack.
11. When cake is cool, fill and frost with cream cheese frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla extract and the sugar, beating slowly until incorporated.
3. This makes enough frosting for one three-layer nine-inch cake.

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