Perfect Red Velvet Cake

Peyton loves red velvet cake. I have told her time and time again that it’s just chocolate cake with some red food color but she insists it tastes different. So today, I’m going to show you how to make a moist red velvet cake with a shortcut. We are going to use a box mix for the base but add a few things to it to bring it up a notch or three on the taste scale.

You will need the following –

1 – box of Red Velvet Cake Mix

3 – Eggs

3/4 C – Buttermilk

2/3 C – Sour Cream

1/3 C – Vegetable Oil

1 TBSP – Vanilla

You are going to preheat your oven to 325F and place the rack in the center. Prep your cake rounds by smearing a light coating of Crisco and then dusting it with flour. See how mine are below? If you have too much Crisco just take a paper towel and wipe some off. It’s much easier to apply with a paper towel too. Set those aside and now it’s time to make the cake!

You do not want to use a stand or hand mixer for this recipe. It’s all done by hand with a spoon and a large bowl. In the large bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Combine with a whisk until smooth. The sour cream is going to be the ingredient to watch here. It likes to break down into little clumps.

Next, with a spoon, sift in the cake mix until combined. Be sure not to over mix.

Divide between your cake pans, beat on the counter to get out any air bubbles and place in the oven.

Bake for 25-27 minutes, until you can touch the tops and they spring back. The toothpick test is kind of hard for this one because this is a moist cake and if you rely on the toothpick method you will overbake your cake.

Let the cakes cool for about 2-3 minutes in the pans and then transfer to cooling rack.

When the cakes are just about room temperature, wrap them in saran wrap and place in the freezer.  You want to freeze the cake rounds for at least 30 minutes, overnight if possible. This will make frosting them much easier.