Classic Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, room temperature and separated
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• liquid or gel red food coloring
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

For the frosting:

• 2 (8 oz packages) regular cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. In large bowl combine flour, baking, and salt. Sift in cocoa powder. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Mix in oil then add egg yolks, vanilla, and vinegar. Beat for 2 minutes. Mix in food coloring to wet ingredient until uniform in color, about 1 1/2 teaspoons gel or 60-70 drops liquid.
2. Add wet mixture to dry little by little, alternating with buttermilk. Whip egg whites in separate bowl until white and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gently fold egg whites into cake batter until uniform in color.
3. Divide batter into 2 lined and greased 8” cake tins. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Allow to cool for 1 hour before removing from pans to wire rack. Allow to cool for another 30 minutes before chilling in refrigerator for another hour.

For the frosting and decoration:

1. While cakes chill combine all frosting ingredients in clean bowl using electric mixer. If too runny add a bit more powdered sugar. If too sweet add a small pinch more salt.
2. Refrigerate frosting for 15 minutes before decorating cake. Cut cakes to be level if they’ve risen in the middle. Place one on plate or cake stand. Add frosting to first cake.
3. Then top with second cake. Frost all over top and sides in thin layer to seal the crumbs in, the crumb coat.
4. Use remaining frosting to ice cake in thicker layers. If desired reserve some frosting to load a piping bag and decorate with designs. Otherwise simply use a cake comb or a bench scraper to direct the icing to be flat, wavy, ect. Allow to cool in fridge again for 30-60 minutes before slicing.