Friday, February 11, 2011

Red Velvet Cake

So, what are your plans for Valentine's Day? Stay in and cozy up or go out and paint the town red?  Whichever, I hope this red velvet cake will bring a smile to your face.  This is a great cake with its color and rich taste which will be a surprise for your special one.

   As for me, I treat the day as any other. If that sounds cynical, blame it on my husband who does not give a hoot about Valentine’s Day.  Another festival lost to capitalism and conjured up by Hallmark is what he will say. Oh Well!  That sure doesn't mean I can't eat this cake, right?

Red Velvet Cake


But I have some good memories of this day.  More like quirky, fun-filled ones.  We had some strange happenings in our college around Feb 14th.  Some guys came up with a club called ALFA! It was a big deal those days, and this club only gave entry to young men.  As for us girls, (I don’t write young ladies by choice) we were happy giggling and gossiping.  Questions that reigned supreme in our conversations were “Who will be given Valentine’s day cards, who will get flowers, and who the hell will be proposed to.  Oh! We discussed it endlessly and sought great entertainment from it.  I know I sound antiquated but hey, it’s my life.

Red Velvet Cake

In the mean time, the men folk, especially ALFA seemed to be in a flutter on the 15th.  You ask why after the big day?

Well, ALFA stands for Aloysius Love Failure Association.  The club just grew out of proportion enough to break at its seams on this day.  We girls were too prim and proper (at least to the public eye), and gave those boys a run.  We were playing hard to get!


Those were the days! 

Red Velvet Cake

(Remember the old Will Filter Cigarette ad? The slogan read “‘made for each other, filter and tobacco perfectly matched – Taste that truly satisfies time after time.”)

Disclaimer: I do not like smoking and neither my husband nor I smoke.  This is just metaphorical, I like the ad slogan.

Should I tell you anything about the cake?  Take my word for it; it’s the best cake for the day! Red velvet and Valentine’s Day – Made for each other.

Okay! Don’t throw things at me now.  I am done talking!

Red Velvet Cake


For the cake:

Flour- 2 1/2 cups
Baking soda- 1 tsp
Eggs- 2
Sugar- 1 3/4 cups
Oil- 1 1/2 cup
Buttermilk- 1 cup
Milk- 3 Tbsp
Cocoa powder- 2 Tbsp
White vinegar- 1 Tbsp
Pure Vanilla Extract-1 tsp
Red food color- 2 oz


Cream Cheese frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Method:

1.Preheat the oven at 350 degree F. Grease and flour two 9 inch pans.
2.Lightly beat the eggs.
3.Add the other wet ingredients and mix well.
4.Whisk together the dry ingredients.
5.Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by beating everything together for a couple of minutes.
6.Divide equally among the pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.
7.Cool completely on a wire rack.
8.Meanwhile make the frosting by mixing everything together. Start with the cream cheese and butter at room temperature.
9.Frost one cake on the top and keep the other one on top.Frost on the top and the sides too.
10.Refrigerate any left overs.

Red Velvet Cake

Contributor: Namitha
Recipe adapted from : Bakerella and here

56 comments:

  1. Such a vibrant color!!!love it hv never seen such an attratctive color in a cake love it!!!

    http://scribbler-scribblings.blogspot.com/

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  2. very beautiful clr..i was planning to make this cake for valentines day too...as soon as my baby lets me...
    beautiful clicks...

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  3. That's a funny story! This cake is gorgeous. Perefect for Valentine's Day!

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  4. Making me hungry.Lovely cake.Happy Valentine day.

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  5. Delicious colorful cake, perfect for valentine day.

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  6. Lovely color..Have no plans for V-day though. Gulping at the amount of red coloring used..no wonder my previous attempts at making this cake ended up in a rust colored unappealing mess..I hadn't used enough color..He He

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  7. Nami, as you said, perfect cake for V day, Its Manu's fav cake till date, but i am not a great fan of this, i love choc cakes..

    Pictures are stunning as ever and i loved reading thru your college memories.

    Happy valentine's day wishes to you...

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  8. Wow, what a beautiful curry and presentation, love it.

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  9. E' bellissima vorrei farla allo stesso modo :) buon week-end ciao

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  10. Prefect for V day, wat an elegant cake...

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  11. wow..look at that bright red color..looks perfect for v day...

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  12. What a beautiful Cake dear! So pretty and so scrumptious too. Perfect for V Day :)

    US Masala

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  13. What a lovely cake and beautiful clicks to make me drool:)

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  14. WOW!! What a pretty cake, Nami!! Gorgeous pics..Loved the presentation too..Happy Valentine's day!!

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  15. Perfect cake (color) for the season.. Love your flashback though!

    http://krithiskitchen.blogspot.com

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  16. Hahhaha..Adipoli!! nami ippoo njan ithu bake cheythu kazhine ullu..wat a coincidence da, but definitely better than mine, mine will be coming soon :-) pinee enjoyed ur college storiesttoo..Happy Valentines day wishes to u & sunitha.:)

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  17. Cake looks perfect for Valentine's day. Lovely post and delicious pics. Enjoy your weekend and Happy Valentines day.

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  18. wonderful cake, my hubby says the same he he being married to an Indian I can chuckle at the love failure club, like Devdas!

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  19. Wow! Looks awesome! Wonderful cake & perfect pictures!

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  20. MY very fav one..looks absolutely beautiful and moist.. Love love love it both texture and picture.. Wish u guys HAppy Valentines Day!!!

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  21. oh what a beautiful cake - can I have a slice?! :)

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  22. The cake looks really good... Just 2 days before i saw a video of making red velvet cake at Joy of baking...

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  23. Wow!!!Fantastic Cake and Perfect for the day! All pics are Fantastic.Wish u Happy Valentines day dear!

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  24. The cake looks so lovely. Love the colour combo.

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  25. V-Day is another usual day for us. But this bright red is just popping up from the screen gal :) Lovely creation!

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  26. cake looks superbb perfect for valentines day and lovely click as usual

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  27. Namitha... "ha ha ha"... that was a nice incident you narrated :)

    I was neither supportive nor against the ideas of valentines or LOVE. However, I think there is no specific time to propose. Ladki dikhi, achi lagi, propose... finish

    LOVE and life, though they are the opposite poles and don't attract each other; we feel it a pleasure to always try them to attach and feel the sensation of repulsion.

    Regarding valentines day,... mm.. yet to find someone to gift atleast the red velvet cake... is there someone in your locality? :)

    I hope your husband might have gained a lot of fat eating all the delicious recipes... I would never avoid eating them though I care about the body-fat percentile.

    Your club concept was interesting. we had something more interesting being a later generation than yours... change in concepts and extra fittings :)

    Velvet cake looks marvelous... "looks"... as I said need some testimonials for taste... :)

    kidding...

    Regards,
    Abhi...

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  28. ayyo! maari poyi... like poles repel and unlike poles attract... ende physics teacherine paranjal mathi...

    Wadi eduthapol paranjatha venda onnum talel kaerilla ennu... :)

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  29. Hi, wow!!! thats a gorgeous colour !!!,

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  30. Love the color.. so vibrant and delicious :)

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  31. TOn gâteau semble délicieux et ton rouge est très réussi.
    J'aime beaucoup.
    Bonne St Valentin et see soon.

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  32. This cake reminds me that it is my kids favorite and I have yet to make one! Thanks to you, I now have a recipe for it! Beautiful cake and lovely story.

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  33. Cake looks yum ...My DH is same ...such days doesn't matter to him :( ..Anyways that's alrite correct dear :) ..Happy Valentine Day dear

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  34. wow..what a colour?...too attractive and drooling cake

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  35. wow name is really true for this cake..love the bright red color

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  36. Gorgeous and delicious cake,adipoli color dear..looks so vibrant.

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  37. gorgeous color...looks so beautiful!...surely will make Valentine's memorable!
    Happy Valentine's Gulmohar! :))

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  38. I am like your hubby too but ofcourse you can enjoy this cake and it looks beautiful.

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  39. You're so cute! I like the story about the club - so funny. And your cake is stunning and I bet it's scrumptious too!

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  40. wow... yummy n delicious cake.... lovely presentation...

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  41. super dear! yummy and mouthwatering cake..gud job namitha!

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  42. Namitha,perfect cake i ever seen for this season..luv the cream cheese frosting to the core..

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  43. Attractive color and a great cake for valentines day. Nice to know about your ALFA...

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  44. very well presented and looks so perfect and yummy!!
    beautiful clicks too :)
    Happy V day chechimars!!

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  45. what do i say...awesome clicks like always ....love the red and white...your story was so cute brought back memories :)

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  46. You got the perfect right colours looks stunning and the whole setup looks gorgeous!

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  47. What can I say? Perfect just seems like an understatement for this one. Love the presentation as always. Belated valentine's Day wishes to you and yours!

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  48. I found this recipe on Pinterest and had to give it a try. Made it into cupcakes and substituted a new product I found, Lorann Professional Kitchen "Red Velvet" Bakery Emulsion, in place of a bottle of red food coloring and the cupcakes turned out perfect! After trying many recipes from the internet that were, to put it politely, a waste of groceries, this one is a keeper. Thanks for sharing the recipe,

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sam,

      So happy to hear that you loved the recipe. This comment made my day :) Thanks for taking your time to give a feedback,that means a lot to me.

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