buttermilk red velvet cake with chocolate fudge frosting

I made you a cake! Partly because I wanted to. Partly because I wanted to make my friends fat and happy. And partly because HOLYGOOOOSH, we reached 500 followers on GFC last weekend! That would be 500 people who actually READ this blog. 500 people who like food as much as me. 500 people that follow along on this baking journey of mine. 500 people who encourage me to keep on doing what I love to do. Thank you! I love you guys as much as a fat kid loves cake.

Guess that makes me a fat kid. Ha. 

Moving on… I think as food bloggers, we do some pretty extreme things just to get a good picture of food. Like, really? And a lot of our friends and family suffer from our weirdness. God bless 'em. Someone comes walking in while I'm taking pictures of cookies… And then I scream "NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!", tilting said cookies just so. Not many people I know do that. Actually, no people I know do that.  

And if you're like me, you may or may not slice into a cake before your company arrives. It may seem kinda… rude maybe. But I NEED A PICTURE! Really though, I deserve it. After all, I made you people a pretty cake. A layered one at that! We're getting serious here. 

So, let's talk about this cake shall we? It didn't turn out super red… But, let's just call it a Burgandy {I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell it. But life goes on.} Velvet cake, mmkay? Cool. Thanks for agreeing. The buttermilk in this cake gives it a little kick in the pants, adding some extra flavor. Seriously perfection. 

The frosting… Umm whoa. It's pretty dang thick and fudgey. Literally FUUUUDGE. When you lick the spoon {don't deny it. I know you do.}, it'll make you want to close your eyes, go to your happy place, maybe do a little dance, and thank God for all things chocolatey and fudgey. Amen. 

I just had to take a bite of that fudgey frosting. And a little cake too. Maaaaybe just another bite. 

Fine, I'll be done. 

Just one more. 

Buttermilk Red Velvet Cake 

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. milk {see note on buttermilk}
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
red food coloring {just add it drop by drop until you have the desired redness.}

Chocolate Fudge Frosting 

1/2 c. chocolate chips, melted
1/2 c. milk
4 3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Note: For the buttermilk flavor, I just used vinegar and milk. However, if you're not using this option and want to use regular buttermilk, use 1 c. buttermilk.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, milk, vinegar, and vanilla.In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mix until completely combined. Add in the red food coloring. Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. After the cakes were completely cooled, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and refrigerated them over tonight so they were ready to frost. When you're ready to frost the cakes, combine all the frosting ingredients until smooth. First, frost one layer of the cake with about half of the frosting. Place the other cake on top and repeat with more frosting. Frost the sides, if desired!

Red Velvet Mug Cake

I LOVE single serving recipes. Obsession? Almost. Last night I was looking around Pinterest for some more to try out. Sadly, I had eaten enough sweets already. Lame. But I found one I just HAD to try today! Kirbie's Cravings has TONS! They even did a whole series. That being said- I. was. in. heaven. 

And don't you worry! I will be trying MANY more in the upcoming weeks days. :)

While I was making this, I was thinking why red velvet is any different than chocolate cake…

I mean really. It's basically the same thing with a dash of red food coloring. OOOH impressive!

If I added some green coloring to my white cake, would I be a genius? I think yes. :)

The recipe was a little much for just one person in my opinion. I didn't feel like eating a whole mug {notice I broke the rules on that one} of cake. I had a friend coming over to get crafty with so I thought I'd make us a little treat. I may or may not have eaten it all before she even got here… Aren't I a great friend? I know...

Just kidding. Know that if you become my friend though, my baking gets tied in with the deal.

 Let's be friends, shall we?

Red Velvet Mug Cake
from :: Kirbie's Cravings
serves 1-2


For the cake:
4 tbsp flour
4 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp red food coloring

For the frosting:
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together into an oversized mug using a fork or small whisk until batter is smooth. Cook in microwave for about 1 min 30 seconds. It might need an additional 30 seconds. Be careful not to overcook as batter will become dense and rubbery.

Let cake cool slightly before piping frosting. For frosting, combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix on high speed until light and fluffy. Pipe onto cake.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Oh goodness! Where do I start?! ... 

I have been wanting to make these bite-size wonders since the moment I saw them on a baking magazine cover. They always looked so cute, elegant, easy, and most importantly- DELICIOUS!! I finally had a reason to make them and went at it full speed. I found the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, bakerella.com. You should stop by her blog... There are TONS more beauties like these!

As I was candy-coating them, I ran into a little issue. When I took out the first batch of melted chocolate stuff, I noticed it was burnt, and it turned all chunky and gross. Luckily I didn't use the whole thing at once, otherwise I would have been out of luck! But it turned out, I needed those few 

"chunks o' chocolate" because I ran out after doing only like 18 balls! So I just used some white chocolate chips instead{which didn't turn out as well, but whatcha gonna do, right!?} So please ignore the ones that looked like they're covered in craft glue. :P

ALSO, BEWARE OF RED HANDS AND SMELLING

LIKE CUPCAKES UNTIL YOU'RE 86!

Red Velvet Cake Balls

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.

6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

Balls of cake and hands of red!

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{SOPHIE}