Red velvet cake: A holiday treat

Red Velvet Cake wasn’t always red. In fact, in its humble beginnings during the early 1800s, it was an incredibly light treat that made use of cocoa, cornstarch or almond flour to make the protein in regular flour a little softer. The resulting delicacy was an extremely fine-textured cake that was known, with somewhat of a Victorian essence, as velvet. Though the history is sometimes disputed, in the 1920s New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is credited with popularizing the cake made with red coloring.

The Cake
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2 cups sugar
* 2 eggs (at room temperature)
* 2 ounces red food coloring
* 1 tablespoon cocoa
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon vanilla
* 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon vinegar

Butter and flour two 8-9-inch cake pans and set them aside.

Mix oil and sugar on medium for five minutes, then add one egg at a time. Wait for the first egg to be completely mixed in before adding the next one.

Next, mix very well, the 2 ounces of food coloring with the cocoa powder. Add this mixture to the previous mixture, along with the salt and vanilla.

Sift together the flour and baking soda and add one-third of the mixture to the above mixture, combining until mixed well.

Stir together the buttermilk and vinegar and add half of it to the above mixture. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, combining well. Then repeat by combining the rest of the buttermilk, followed by the last one-third of the flour.

Divide the mixture evenly between 2-3 cake pans, depending on how thick you want each layer and bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the pans used. They will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from pans. Allow them to cool completely before attempting to ice them.

The Icing
* 3 packages of cream cheese, softened
* 3/4 cups butter
* 1 Tablespoon vanilla
* 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Fold together the cream cheese and butter until completely mixed, then add vanilla and mix well.

Add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time for the best consistency. For best results, place in the refrigerator for a half hour before icing the cakes.