Quick Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This red velvet cake seems a bit like cheating.  When it says "quick", it means "quick"!  I made it during homework crunch time in the hour that I had between school and baseball practice, and I had time to spare.(That was just the cake and does not include the time it took to cool and frost.)  In the interest of full disclosure, it starts with a German Chocolate cake mix.  It is very yummy.  My mom gave me this recipe, but I actually have the cookbook that it can be found in.  This is a great cookbook, called The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.  She has some wonderful recipes which all start with cake mixes.  Most of the recipes are super easy, and all of the ones that I have tried have been great. 

I obviously did not inherit my mother's cake decorating skills, but I tried!

Quick Red Velvet Cake (found on pages 152-153 of The Cake Mix Doctor)

Serves:16
Preparation Time:  8 minutes
Baking Time:  28-30 minutes
Assembly Time:  15 minutes

Solid vegetable shortening for greasing pans
Flour for dusting pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) German chocolate cake mix with pudding (I could not find one with pudding, a regular one is fine)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil (canola, corn, etc.)
1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting (found on page 420 of The Cake Mix Doctor)

Makes 3 cups, enough to frost a 2 or 3 layer cake
Preparation time:  5-7 minutes

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
8 T. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 t. pure vanilla extract

1.  Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds.  Stop the machine.  Add the confectioners' sugar, a bit at a time, blending with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute.  Add the vanilla, then increase the mixer speed to medium and blend the frosting until fluffy, 1 minute more.

2.  Use at once to frost the top and sides of the cake of your choice.
Directions for cake:

1.  Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350.  Generously grease two 9 inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening (Crisco), then dust with flour.  Shake out the excess flour.  Set the pans aside. 

2.  Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute.  Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2-3 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed.  The batter should look well blended.  Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing  it out with the rubber spatula.  Place the pans in the oven side by side.

3.  Bake the cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger and just start to pull away from the sides of the pans, 28 - 30 minutes.  Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes.  Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each layer onto a rack, then invert them again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up.  Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

4.  Meanwhile, prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting.

5.  Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter.  Spread the top with frosting.  Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with clean, smooth strokes.

6.  Place this cake, uncovered in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes.  Store in a plastic cake saver or covered in waxed paper in the refrigerator, for up to one week.  Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 weeks.  Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.



Shh!  Don't tell anyone that this cake is really a cake mix!



Yummy!





This cake is moist and delicious, and what can I say about cream cheese frosting?  Absolutely devine!!