Red Velvet Birthday Cake

My really good friend, Demeter, turned 21 this past Friday!  Woohoo!  Since I wasn’t able to celebrate with her over the weekend, I made her a cake and took it to her at school Tuesday.

I really love the way it turned out.  I think it is a really cute cake.

She really liked it, too!

I’m in love with these character pans.  I’m so glad that my mom’s friend gave us an entire box of them!  It’s so much fun decorating cakes!

I wish I could get better at doing words, though.  I guess I will get better with practice, but right now I do not like the way it turns out at all.

I frosted the cake with vanilla butter cream frosting and the cake part is red velvet.  Zack got to sample the cake when I leveled it and he said it was really yummy.

Here it is before I iced it.

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

– 1/2 c shortening

– 1 1/2 c sugar

– 2 eggs

– 2 (1 oz) bottles red food coloring

– 1 t pure vanilla extract

– 2 1/2 c cake flour

– 1/2 t salt

– 1 t unsweetened cocoa

– 1 c buttermilk

– 1 T white vinegar

– 1 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour cake pans and set aside.

Beat shortening at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Gradually add the sugar, beating well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir in the food coloring and extract.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and cocoa and set aside.  In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, vinegar and baking soda.

At low speed, add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture.  Begin and end with the flour mixture.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes.

Evenly distribute batter among prepared cake pans.  Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool completely on wire racks before spreading with frosting.