So it’s 2 days from my 23rd birthday and 1 week from my husbands’ 33!! Time to celebrate with some red velvet cake!

Ever since we met, my husband has been telling me how his favorite cake of all time is red velvet… and it was only a few days that it occurred to me that i should probably make him one first his birthday. Since I’ve never even read about how one is made, I decided to start practicing for the big day 😜

Let me first make a disclaimer. This recipe is not healthy! I have to write that down because many of my recipes on the blog are healthy and I’ve been getting messages from people confused about this! This is a sugary dessert but hey, if there is ever a time to have sweets and cake it’s on your birthday right??

This is the first year I am away from my parents and sisters for my birthday (no homemade cake made by mom for me!) and also the first year I’m a wife, so I wanted to get the cake recipe and practice done right. After the first try, I think everything turned out all went well…. except the color 😂 it’s kind of a….brown velvet? I personally think it looks like a brownie cake but I’m telling you, the flavour is ON POINT!

I’m aware after checking out other recipes online that adding a bit of coffee to the batter isn’t usually used for red velvet cakes but in my opinion, it adds a deeper flavour and (like my favorite food blogger Divas Can Cook says🙂 it helps take the chocolate flavour to a whole different level! I also noticed that the result with coffee makes the cake end up really soft (I tried a no coffee version and it wasn’t as good) so don’t skip it!!

It’s by far the best cake I’ve ever made judging only by taste!!! Maybe next time i’ll just add double the red coloring and reduce the cacao..? Not sure. I’ll keep you guys posted xo

Recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola
1 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk or almond milk
teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 oz. red food coloring, more or less depending on how deep you want the color
1/4 cup plain hot coffee, prepared (don’t skip this ingredient)**
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

Tips:

Make sure you separate dry and wet ingredients and mix until the end.
Bake for 30-40 minutes on 325 F and make sure to NOT over-bake if you want that moist cake!!

For the frosting I mixed cream cheese with a bit of powdered sugar and butter, and added the strawberries at the end 😉

PS. Again, NO, this is not a healthy cake at all!!! Birthday exceptions are allowed haha!