My love of red velvet cake goes back as far as I can remember, which on a good day is age 4 or 5, on a bad day, I’m lucky if I remember the details of yesterday. Recently I was chatting with my friend, Elijah, and while discussing red velvet funnel cake he mentioned that there’s a secret to Southern Red Velvet Cake. I love learning secrets so I used my charm asked him to share the recipe and that prompted this foray into the art of baking Real Southern Red Velvet Cake, or in my case cupcakes.  For those of you stuck on the  red velvet funnel cake, and I don’t judge you, check out the link. Upon learning about the new level of funnel cake luvin’, I promptly added the red velvet version to the top of my Fork List. Yes, my Fork List, rather than a Bucket List I have a Fork List. All the dishes, desserts and delicacies that have not yet tantalized my taste buds. Food is central to the human experience; be it while traveling discovering new lands and cultures, enjoying traditions with family and friends, or trying something new from afar. I don’t live anywhere near the South, however, I can kick back on my patio with a cupcake and sweet tea, er glass of Bordeaux and pretend the little bugs flying by my flood lights are lightening bugs. Before I share the recipe I thought I’d pass on a few notes from this special kinda pretty.

 

Glass of Bordeaux optional, Fred Batterfinger Spatula required.

 

~If you decide to make cupcakes rather than a cake, half if not quarter the recipe for the cream cheese frosting, unless you want a few pounds of the fluffy indulgence in your fridge.

 

~Don’t mix the frosting with the wisk attachment on your mixer, it might break, instead use the regular beaters. This is all hypothetical of course.

 

~The recipe uses pureed beets. Pureed is defined as: to rub through a strainer or process food in a blender, just throwing that out there ;)

 

~Finally, a Fred Batterfinger Spatula really does help with the dairy queen tops on your cupcakes…just sayin’.

 

So, now that you all have learned about tasty funnel cakes and my mishaps wise words, I’ll leave you with a good photo for what I look like while baking…

 

 

Haha, that got your attention didn’t it? No, I’m not P!nk, however, red heels do help with making divine red velvet cake, at least that makes sense in my head. Pink’s new song Try is a good motto while making this Real Southern Red Velvet Cake with pureed beets. To me, Red Velvet Cake is a Truth About Love. Happy baking y’all!

 

Real Southern Red Velvet Cake

¾ c. pureed beets

½ c. oil

¼ c. milk

1 tsp. plain yogurt

½ tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 eggs

¾ c. flour

⅔ c. sugar

½ c. cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and set aside.

Blend the wet ingredients until uniform.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the center comes out clean.

Cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 blocks cream cheese (8 oz each)

2 sticks unsalted butter

¼ tsp. salt

16 oz confectioner’s sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Cream together the cream cheese and butter at room temperature.

Add the salt and sugar and whip until light and fluffy.

Stir in the vanilla. Frost your cooled cake and sprinkle sides with chopped pecans for garnish if desired.