Ben's Birthday Cake!

So, if you know me, you that I'm not much of a baker or really any cooking for that matter... but the city I live in, if I want "western" food,  for the most part I have to make it myself.  Well, for my hubby's birthday he asked for Red Velvet cake... I did NOT have a box for Red Velvet Cake!  What was I gonna do?   Really make Red Velvet Cake from scratch?!?  I could have just said, "Sorry, pick what kind of cake you want and show him the box cakes that we have" (from people who sent them from the states!:), but I know he deserves better!    So here's how I made it with Paula Deen's help.  :)  I used a different icing though, her's called for a marshmallow icing & I wanted a cream cheese icing.  

Ingredients:  1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 cup buttermilk (Had to make this. 1 cup milk w/1 T white vinegar = buttermilk)

1 teaspoon salt 

2 1/2 cup cake flour 

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter 

2 ounces red food coloring 

2 tablespoons cocoa 

2 cups sugar 

2   eggs 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 tablespoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs; add sugar.

 Sift together flour and salt.

 Mix cocoa and food coloring.  Add butter and egg mixture; mix well. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.  Blend in vanilla.

 In a small bowl, combine soda and vinegar and add to mixture. 

 Pour into three 8-inch round greased and floured pans.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tests done.

Be CAREFUL to NOT take the cakes out of the pans before they are cool!  I had some cake left behind on the first one.  (Didn't really bother me too much, since I got to snack on it! And I knew it would be covered up by icing. :)  This is what mine looked like:

FROSTING!

 1 pound cream cheese, softened

 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Once the cakes are COMPLETELY cool, throw on the frosting, one layer at a time!

1.

2.

3.

 My options to write on the cake were pretty slim, so I made the best of it.  Then Braidynn was in charge of the sprinkles!  (The cake was for Ben & a local friend.)

and, VOILA!

My hubby loved it and it was pretty yummy if I do say so myself!  And it truly wasn't that hard to make.  :)