Red Velvet Cake

Southerners have long appreciated and been fans of the Wisconsin badgers - the proof is in the cake. Why else would you dye a perfectly good chocolate cake red?

For Mike's birthday, he requested this traditional Southern favorite, and since it was a new adventure for me, I was only too happy to comply.

I researched red velvet cake and came up with a few recipes (Paula Deen, epicurious).... I distilled that the important parts were buttermilk, vinegar and red dye...... then I merged them into what I thought that I wanted to do.

The one thing that I did "wrong" was use Dutch Process cocoa powder, which is darker in color than regular cocoa powder and made the redness of the cake a bit difficult to see.

"Wisconsin Red" Velvet Cake
2 cups sifted cake flour
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process probably tastes better, but makes it hard to see the red)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 T red food coloring
1 t distilled white vinegar
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter cake pans and line round pans (if using them) with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk, vanilla, vinegar and red food coloring. In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, powder, cocoa powder and soda.

Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture alternately, about 1/3 at a time.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

Cool cake completely and ice with cream cheese frosting.

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
powdered sugar to taste (~1cup)

whip together, frost cake.