Luci's Tasty Adventures

I have to admit that I am not much of a cake girl, but knowing that I would be baking in my mothers fancy convection oven sealed the deal.  Cake was for desert.  The next step was what kind of cake should I make.  I was thinking chocolate and then carrot, and in the end I wanted something that would go well with cream cheese frosting.  I borrowed the cake recipe from Martha Stewart, and added a little less coco powder than she did.  I wanted this cake to scream red, and it did.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the cake and its sinfully good frosting.

Method:

• Unsalted butter, for cake pans
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8-1/4 cup cocoa powder- add 1/8 for a brighter red cake, ¼ for a deeper red cake.
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup red food coloring
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cake pans with unsalted butter and dust with flour.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl; cake flour, salt coco powder; set aside.
Fit your electric mixer with the paddle attachment and combine the eggs and sugar, beat for a few minutes; add eggs one at a time.  Add food coloring and vanilla; please not that red food color can stain your kitchen, so be careful!

Add flour and buttermilk to mixture; alternating and scraping down sides as you go.  In a small bowl mix baking soda and vinegar; add to batter.  Beat for 10 seconds and then divide evenly into cake pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes till toothpick comes out clean.  Cool cakes on racks before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting