Dessert For Dad – Red Velvet Cake

On Sunday, dads will be the guests of honor at celebrations of Fatherhood all over the country.  We have a wonderful dessert for your family’s celebration.  It’s a great way to remind your father, grandfather, Godfather, or husband just how “sweet” you think he is 🙂  Red Velvet Cake is a long time classic.  For those who love a moist but light cake, this will be a big hit.  The icing, called Ermine Icing, or sometimes called Boiled Milk Frosting, is also a very old recipe, and the original icing recipe given for Red Velvet Cake back when the cake became popular in the 1940’s.  Many people now use a cream cheese icing.  Both are yummy, but give this Ermine Icing a try and see what you think.  We think you’ll like it.

Red Velvet Cake with Ermine Icing

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened) + 1 tablespoon for dusting cake pans
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 room temp eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil (sunflower or grapeseed)
1 cup buttermilk (bring to room temp)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons red food coloring

Icing: *
2 cup whole milk
10 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
2 cups room temp. butter
2 cup sugar

* (We doubled the recipe for the icing as we prefer a good amount of icing with our cake.  If you like less icing or if you decide you prefer a 2 layer cake rather than a 3 layer one, you can bake the cake in two 9″ cake pans and only use half the amount of icing by cutting the icing recipe in half.)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and dust with cocoa, three 8 inch cake pans  (or two 9″ cake pans if that is your preference)

In one bowl whisk together, flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside

In another bowl beat the eggs and then add sugar, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed and creamy.

Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients on a low speed until combined.

By hand with a rubber spatula, fold in the vinegar and red food coloring until the batter is fully “red” and there are no streaks remaining.

Divide batter into prepared cake pans equally.  Tap pans on countertop to table to release air bubbles, then allow to sit for 5 minutes before placing in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

While cake is baking make the icing.  Stir together milk and flour with a whisk and cook over a medium flame until it becomes very thick and has the consistency of pudding.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.  Pour into a bowl and cool completely.

Next beat the butter and sugar on high speed until it is very light and creamy, about 5 minutes, stopping a couple of times to scrap down the sides.  Add the milk/flour mixture a little at a time beating on medium speed until completely combined and the icing has a whipped cream consistency.  Refrigerate until ready to use on the cake but not loner than about 45 minutes to an hour as the icing will become too firm to spread nicely.

When the cakes are done and tester in the middle comes out clean, allow cake to cool in pans for 5 minutes then remove from pans to calling racks and cool completely.  When the cake is fully cooled, place first layer on cake serving plate and cover the layer with icing. Add the next two layers and continue frosting.  Frost side and top with a thin layer of icing, called a “crumb coat” and then place in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes.  When icing feels set and firmer, add remains icing to sides and top.  Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Slice generously and enjoy!

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