Mom's Best Red Velvet Cake

After yesterday's post on diabetic food, I don't know if I can post this. Really. If I admit how many of these I actually ate, I'm sure I will have to talk to my bishop. It's a sin. Perfectly evil. That being said, I love red velvet cake. If it is done right and it isn't just a lame chocolate cake that someone poured a jar of red food coloring into. This one is the real deal. By real, I mean the classic with the butter frosting that has a cooked pudding mixed into it. The classic where the cake is rich and thick and moist like a brownie...but fluffy, with only a hint of chocolate. Real vanilla...hints of raspberry. After all, that is what I was raised on. The real deal. Not a box mix with cream cheese frosting. It isn't anywhere close. In fact, I love the real deal so much that when I got married, my dear aunt Dorthea made a wedding cake for my reception in Utah using the real cake...and the real frosting. It was an act of love. Indeed. So, forgive me if I only ever share the real red velvet cake recipe that my mom used for years. It's the one her mother gave to her, with a few alterations. So we are indeed going on the third generation of red velvet freakishness. Straight from my mother.
Thanks Mom!
Here goes:

Mom’s Best Red Velvet Cake
by Geneve C. Wanberg (Mom to 4 wonderful "kittens")
formulated for high altitude (2010)

"My search for a moist and light red velvet cake began in my 17th year of life. Because I couldn't find a recipe for the red velvet cake I was looking for, I have developed a high ratio cake from basic ingredients that is tender and moist. The mayonnaise is an emulsion and lends itself well in a high ratio cake made in the home kitchen. The classic chalk white frosting I became acquainted with in my youth has been enhanced with the addition of white chocolate baking pieces."


Yield: one (1) 9 inch cake
24 cupcakes
Cake:
2 cups cake flour (sea level, use 1 3/4 cup flour)
1/3 cup cornstarch (sea level, use 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder (sea level, use 2 tsp baking powder)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup red food coloring (2 ounces)
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup mayonnaise (Best Foods)
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon LorAnn’s Royal Raspberry oil (optional)
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature


Frosting, recipe follows.


Directions:


Cake: Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350º. Line two (2) 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and then butter and flour the pans.


In a medium bowl sift or whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set dry ingredients aside for use later.


In a large liquid measuring cup combine the food coloring, milk, and mayonnaise. Beat milk mixture slightly with a fork (mixture will appear to be curdled).


Cream together the butter, vanilla, and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat another 3-5 minutes or until the mixture is a light lemon color.


Add the flour mixture to the batter in three (3) batches alternating with the milk mixture, mixing well after each addition. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.


Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then invert onto cooling racks. Allow cakes to completely cool before frosting (allow 2-3 hours for cooling). The cakes can be frosted without splitting the layers, however, I love having four layers of cake with the frosting layered in between. For this effect you will need to split cakes in half horizontally prior to frosting the cake. Note: Because the frosting utilizes a pudding mixture, store cake in fridge after frosting.
Frosting:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups whole milk
8 ounces white chocolate baking pieces
1-1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla (or 1 1/2 tsp LorAnn's vanilla bean paste)
2-3 drops LorAnn’s Royal Raspberry oil (optional)
1-1/2 cups sugar
Frosting: Whisk together milk and flour in a two quart pan. Heat on stove over medium heat while continuously whisking until the mixture comes to boil and is very thick. Take the pan off the stove, add white chocolate pieces and stir until they are melted (don’t mix too much as the baking pieces may become oily). Force thickened mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on top of the “pudding” mixture and cool for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.


Cream the butter, vanilla, raspberry oil (optional), and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whist attachment and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and the sugar is dissolved, about 6 minutes. Add the cold milk/white chocolate paste, a few tablespoons at a time to the butter mixture and whip until light and fluffy.


Oh...and I use the LorAnn real vanilla bean paste in the frosting. Shameless plug...10% off through the end of April if you mention my name at checkout... See the flecks. It's evil, but in a very good way.

Until you've actually tasted the frosting, the picture really doesn't do it justice. Let me just preface it by saying that this is not sweetened bleck-ish shortening junk. This is melt in your mouth buttery love. It's lightly sweet with a wonderful hint of vanilla and raspberry. It's breathtaking. I'm being very reserved with my praise...for how I feel about this frosting. Please...put one in my coffin when I die. I'll need it on the other side. If it's not in heaven...well, then I don't want to go. Okay...that may be a little extreme.

See the flecks of vanilla bean?

Let me help you see them better...

That was a total sacrifice to show you that. I just want you to know. Look at my eye twitching. Great...now I have guilt. Lie again, and I'm sure to not go where the frosting is.

Okay. There you go.