Award Winning Red Velvet Cake

The deep, rich, gorgeous color of Red Velvet Cake

make it perfect for Christmas.

I didn't grow up with Red Velvet Cake, but my husband

did.  His Grandma Eunice made it for him whenever he

came to visit.  She would keep one in the freezer to

frost if family came into town.

She continued this once we were married and would

even frost one and send it with Kirk's parents when they

were coming through on their way to our house.

After Grandma died the siblings decided to have a

contest to see which version they had of Grandma's

Red Velvet cake was the best.  We all met at a family

reunion in Seattle and had a bake-off.  Two sisters and

one brother entered the bake off.  I was a blind and

impartial judge as a non-blood family member and my

husband was a blind judge as a family member.

My husband's brother, Greg won the competition with this

recipe with the bragging rights that come along with it

.  That was a proud moment for him to beat out

his two sisters who are great cooks.  I present you

with that recipe (which I have tweaked to make it a 3 layer

cake and I have chosen a different frosting too!)

I present it on this fabulous cake stand by Dept 56

Krinkles High Heel cake platter.  You can find

some of these on ebay (I just checked).

This was a gift a few years ago.  This cake stand

goes well with my

 Girlfriend Christmas Tablescape

that I posted yesterday with the red heels.

I topped it with white chocolate trees, silver

sparkles and white edible pearls and finish

it off with red hots to echo the design around the

cake platter.

The white chocolate trees are made simply by melting white

chocolate coating discs and piping them onto parchment paper.

I made the bottoms a little thicker with a thick trunk so that

they would hold upright in the frosting.

This cake was made for a party that we had to bring

the cake to so I made a few extra trees in case of

breakage on the way, and sure enough, we went over

a speed bump and lost a few but had several to

repair the damage.

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

(Makes 3 - 8 or 9 inch layers)

2 1/4 C. sugar

3/4 C. vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 T. white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 T. cocoa

3 oz. red food coloring

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C. buttermilk

3 3/4 C. flour

1 1 /2 tsp. vanilla

     Cream sugar and oil, then mix in eggs one at a time, beating

 after each one. 

     Mix vinegar and soda and set aside.

     Add cocoa and food coloring to egg mix (you can cut it to

2 oz, but it won't be as vibrant of a red.)

   Beat in the flour alternating with the buttermilk.  Add soda

mix and vanilla. 

     Line bottoms of 3- 8 inch pans with parchment paper.  Do

 not grease the pans.  Pour batter evenly into the pans.  Bake

at 350 for 30 minutes or until springs back.

     The traditional frosting is a cooked frosting, or a cream

cheese frosting, which I love, but I like it even better with the

 following frosting.

           

                                      Audra's Marshmallow Frosting

(My daughter in law introduced me to this frosting and it is perfect.)

Cream together 2 1/4 C. soft butter and 24 oz. marshmallow

 creme.  Add 1 1/2 tsp clear vanilla and 3/4 C. powdered

sugar (yes, very littlepowdered sugar to lots of butter and lots

 of marshmallow, but you won't believe how incredible it is!)

Printable Recipe

 Now red velvet cake is a part of our family traditions,

I have even made a purple velvet cake for my birthday

last year!

Try it, I have tried many red velvet cakes and I agree

with the results of the contest, this one is award winning.

Perfect for a holiday cake.

This cake will be going to these parties

Foodie Fridays, Favorite Things, Seasonal Sundays

Just Something I Whipped Up,Tasty Tuesdays

Its a Wonderful Life