Red Velvet cakes are interesting to me. They're technically a chocolate cake, but most of the cakes I've tasted don't have a strong chocolate flavor. Also...they're bright red. A lot of red velvet cakes take an entire bottle of red liquid food color, which can't be good for you.
This recipe is a good one. It doesn't require a whole bottle of red liquid food color...just a lot of the red paste food color. I'm not sure if that's much better for you, but it's at least a little less expensive. You can pick the paste color up at any JoAnn's, Michael's, or A.C. Moore. Heck, WalMart even stocks the stuff - just head to their craft/wedding aisle and look for the cake decorating stuff.
Most of what I bake is relatively easy, and this cake is no exception. Sure, I enjoy the complicated, showy stuff too, but I'm certainly not going to spend 8 hours on dessert when I have 10 people coming to our one bedroom apartment for dinner and eek! our couch isn't here yet, so where exactly is everyone going to sit? See, easy will win out almost every time.
For some reason this cake came out with big holes throughout. I think it has something to do with the final step, where you combine the vinegar and baking soda and then add it to the cake batter. I think mine may not have gotten mixed in all the way. It still tasted good, just looked a little weird.
If you need a cake that's a little bit different, not too complicated, and needs to impress, this is a good one. Although the cinnamon frosting isn't my absolute favorite, it's still good and people will love it. I think next time I might make a more traditional French or Italian buttercream, but flavor it with the cinnamon to see if that works a little better. Go forth, and bake!
