Red Velvet Layer Cake with Sugared Cranberries
 
 
The 8" cake pans with straight edges are from Williams-Sonoma. I made one cake recipe, then repeated, making another half recipe to fill the third pan. The recipe below is only one full recipe, you'll have to do the math { pretty simple } to make the next half a recipe for the third cake layer. I just mixed the batter while the first two were baking. In all probability, you could mix a full 1 1/2 recipes at once, but I wasn't taking any chances. This recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart and a Bakers Royal recipe. Inspiration came from Call Me Cupcake.
Author:
Recipe type: Desserts - Cake
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake
  • 3 8" round cake pans
  • wax paper or parchment paper
  • Butter or margarine for cake pans
  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising (I used Swans Down)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed) + extra for cake pans
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups canola oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup red food coloring
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 4 small packages (8 ounces each) or two large (16 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 - 7 cups icing (confectioners') sugar, sifted
Sugared Cranberries
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 cups cranberries at room temperature
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 8" round white cardboard cake board
Instructions
Red Velvet Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Grease three 8" round, straight edge cake pans. trace the bottoms gently with a scissor's edge on wax or parchment paper. Cut out and put into the cake pans. Grease the waxed paper bottoms. Add a heaping spoonful of cocoa powder to one pan, shake to coat the bottom and sides. Repeat with the other two pans. Do not use flour, it will leave a white film on the bare sides of the cake.
  3. In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt and cocoa powder together then set aside.
  4. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the sugar and canola oil until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Put the mixer on the lowest speed and add the vanilla and red food coloring. Mix to blend, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
  5. Then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/3 of the buttermilk. Repeat, ending with the buttermilk.
  6. In any small measuring cup, add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda and stir in 2 teaspoons white vinegar. This mixture will fizz up. Add to the cake batter and mix for ONLY 10 SECONDS.
  7. Scrape down the sides and divide this mixture evenly between TWO of the prepared pans.
  8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled for 5-10 minutes, invert the cake and leave it UPSIDE DOWN on the wire rack to finish cooling completely. This helps to ensure you don't have as much of a rounded top to your layers.
  9. REPEAT THIS RECIPE, DIVIDING ALL INGREDIENTS IN HALF TO FILL THE THIRD PAN.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Measure in the vanilla and mix to blend. With the mixer on low, add the icing sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. After 6 cups, test to see if the icing will hold it's shape when the paddle is lifted. If not, add an addition cup of sugar. You need the icing to be thick enough to hold the weight of the three layers of cake. A soft icing means your cake will collapse between layers, pushing the icing out.
  2. !Sugared Cranberries
  3. Set a wire rack over paper towel. Then in a large saucepan, add the water and sugar and set over medium high heat. Once the mixture begins to simmer (not boil), take off the heat and stir in the cranberries. Do not keep them in too long or they will begin to pop and soften, this doesn't work well for sugared cranberries, they will turn to mush if cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and spread out on the prepared wire rack. Allow to cool for about an hour or until tacky to the touch. Measure the rest of the sugar onto a plate or wide mouth bowl. Separate then roll the cranberries in the sugar then place on a plate to cool for another hour.
Assembly
  1. Smear a bit of frosting on an 8" round cake board, press one layer top down on the cake board. Dollop and smooth a thick (1 to 1 1/2") layer of frosting on that layer and press the second layer down gently right side up. You want some of the cream cheese to "ooze" out between the layers, just don't press too hard. Add a second thick layer of cream cheese and place the third layer upside down and press down again. Put a thick layer of icing on the very top of the cake, smooth and flatten with a large offset spatula. I should have made mine thicker.
  2. Put the offset spatula vertically against the side of the cake and "scrape" the sides, going around in a smooth motion. Stop now and then to remove the excess icing but don't put it in the "clean" icing as it will have crumbs in it. If you have an area where there isn't enough icing to "scrape", just dollop a little in there to patch it and then scrape round to smooth. Just keep going until you like what you see. At the top you will end up with a little raised edge, just smooth it back onto the top and flatten. Top with sugared cranberries just before serving.
Notes
Note: This cake looked especially pretty on a silver serving platter.

Note #2: When cutting a slice, have a knife in your right hand and a metal spatula (pancake flipper) up against the other side of the slice of cake using your left hand. This keeps the layers in place when cutting, then just flip the slice over onto the spatula to move to a plate.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 12 - 15 slices
Recipe by Just a Smidgen at https://justasmidgen.com/2014/12/10/red-velvet-layer-cake-cream-cheese-frosting-sugared-cranberries/