Here are the recipes for the red velvet cake recipes. The NY Times one was better–I halved the recipe for 17 cupcakes. Sue
Red Velvet Cake
Adapted from “The Confetti Cakes Cookbook” by Elisa Strauss (Little, Brown, to be published in May).
Time: 90 minutes, plus cooling
Yield: 3 cake layers
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3½ cups cake flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1½ teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2¼ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2½ teaspoons white vinegar.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment.
Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.
___________________________________________________
Buddy Valastro’s Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Servings:Serves 12–16
Ingredients
Cake
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter , at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs , at room temperature
2 Tbsp. liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk , at room temperature
2 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
Frosting
2 packages (8 ounces apiece) cream cheese , at room temperature
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter , at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar , sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Directions
To make cake
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two 9″ x 2″ round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper; grease.
Sift flour, cocoa, and salt into a bowl. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter at low speed until creamy. Add sugar; blend on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each. Scrape bowl; add food coloring and vanilla. On low speed, beat in flour mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. In small bowl, stir together vinegar and baking soda. Stir into batter. Divide batter between prepared pans; spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges and turn layers out onto racks. Remove paper and flip cakes; cool completely. Freeze for 30 minutes.
To make frosting
In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds; beat on medium-high until fluffy.
Cut layers in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on a serving plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Repeat twice. Add last layer, top side up. Ice cake thinly with 3/4 cup frosting to crumb-coat. Refrigerate 20 minutes; finish frosting.
