The last Sweet as Pie recipe of the year! I saved this one for the end so we could take it to a New Year’s Eve gathering with friends. I’m not much of a baker yet, but this cake was easy enough to make for a from-scratch dessert. Here’s how it came together:
The ingredients:
First I creamed together shortening and sugar. 
Then I sifted some cake flour and salt together and mixed buttermilk, eggs, vinegar (who ever came up with the idea of putting vinegar in a cake?), baking soda, and vanilla.
I mixed an entire bottle of red food coloring with a little cocoa powder.
Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately until it’s all mixed together. Then, add in the food coloring mixture and stir until just combined.
And I just want to take a moment to note how much I’m loving my new kitchen – I finally feel like I have enough room to be organized!
After about 25 minutes in the oven:
While the cake cooled, I mixed up the cream cheese icing. It’s best if you don’t concentrate on what all goes into a batch of cream cheese icing, but here are some pictures in case you just have to know.
All that’s left is to ice the cake! I’m not a great icer, so I used a spoon to disguise my lack of technique. I’d love to take a class on this sometime.
We haven’t cut into it yet since we’re taking it to the party tonight, but I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of the icing! Phillip and I haven’t met a red velvet cake we didn’t like, so we’re hoping this one will be a hit too. I’ll be sure to post an update with a picture of the inside!
***Update***
The cake was delicious and so pretty! Everyone at the party really enjoyed it and I got lots of compliments. Next time I’ll double the red food coloring for a deeper color though.
