The Graduate's Kitchen ManualRed Velvet Cake and Cupcakes
This is so much fun to make, serve and eat. Red Velvet Cake is a lot more universally known than it was in its early days. Many ascribe its origins to the South, but others claim it was created in the kitchens of New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
If you find yourself without buttermilk and wanting to make this, you can substitute one cup of regular milk into which you mix ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar. As for the red food coloring, the original recipe calls for two ounces, and I freely admit to cutting that in half. Go for two if you like, but one ounce will give you plenty of rich, red color.
MAKES AN 8-INCH TWO-LAYER CAKE or 18 CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
½ cup butter or margarine
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 ounce of red food coloring
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Paper cupcake liners for the cupcakes
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Instructions:
▪ Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans or line two cupcake pans with 18 paper cups.
▪ In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine on low until soft, then add the sugar and beat on medium until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat again.
▪ Add the flour, salt and cocoa, and mix it in using a spoon or the mixer on low speed.
▪ Add the vanilla, buttermilk and food coloring and mix that in, too.
▪ Make sure you are ready to put the cakes into the oven; check that the oven is up to temperature and your pans are ready. You need to complete this last step quickly and get the batter into the oven because the rising power of the baking soda and vinegar is short-lived once you mix them together.
▪ Mix together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl and use a spatula to quickly fold it into the batter. Do not beat the batter.
▪ For cakes, pour half the batter into each of the two pans, and tap the pans on a countertop to level the tops and eliminate any bubbles resulting from pouring in the batter. Immediately put the pans in the oven.
▪ For cupcakes, spoon batter into the cups, filling them about ¾ full. Immediately put the pans in the oven.
▪ Bake the cakes for 35 minutes and the cupcakes for 20 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the pan. Remove and inspect the toothpick; if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. If batter clings to it, continue baking for a couple of minutes more and check again.
▪ Let the cakes and cupcakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
▪ Finishing the cake by filling and frosting with white Buttercream Frosting.