CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 45 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil & flour 3 (9 X 1 ½ round) cake pans.Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, & cocoa powder. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, & vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients, with mixer, into the wet ingredients until combined & a smooth batter is formed. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven. Run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. Invert the cakes onto a plate & then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded side up. Let cool completely. Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded- side down, in the middle of a cake plate/ stand. Frost top of layer with ¼ to ½ -inch layer of icing. Set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with remaining frosting. Top with toasted pecan halves. 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons cocoa powder 1 ½ cups vegetable oil 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature 2 large eggs, at room temperature 2 Tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce) 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pound cream cheese, softened 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Mix with an electric mixer in a large bowl the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn mixer off, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.) Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy. Store in refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days Red Velvet Cake ~Nancy Haithcock Cream Cheese Frosting: Toasted Pecans: Place 1 ½ cups of pecan halves on baking sheet in 325 degree oven. Bake until pecans become fragrant and lightly browned - approximately 10 minutes. Careful, the pecans burn easily. Keep an eye on them. Cool completely before using them to decorate the cake top. The exact history of the Red Velvet Cake is unknown. But a legend about how the recipe came to be involves a woman, staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. She sampled the cake there, loved it, and asked for the baker's name and the recipe. The recipe arrived in the mail, along with a large bill. The lady was so offended, she copied the recipe and distributed it to everyone she knew. The Red Velvet Cake was featured in the 1989 film, Steel Magnolias, which led to a resurgence of Southerners recreating the recipe for themselves. (The armadillo- shaped cake served as a groom's cake for one of the film's main characters.) About Red Velvet Cake . . .

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