Red Velvet Merry Christmas with the Cricut Cake - and Blog Candy

Are you looking for a special cake to serve family and friends during Christmas week?  Let me suggest this Happy Christmas Red Velvet cake.

This cake was soooo good and looked so pretty when cut.  I thought the recipe sounded odd so I took a sample to our friend Bill.  Bill is a connoisseur of red velvet cake and he loved it.  Soooo, all of that oil and sugar baked up wonderfully.  This is NOT a weight watchers friendly cake.  It IS a special holiday treat for you, your family, and guests.


Red Velvet Cake 

Unsalted butter, softened, for pans
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
powder, plus more for dusting
5 cups cake flour, not self-rising
2 teaspoon salt
3 cups sugar
3 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons red food coloring
4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cup low-fat buttermilk
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons white vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 nine inch pans; line with parchment paper. Butter lining; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Set aside.

2.Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

4. Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

5. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 30
to 35 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.  You may split the layers in half vertically for a taller cake, though I did not split the layers on this cake.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tablespoons sour cream
4 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla
Extract
2 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese, softened butter, sour cream and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.  Cool cake completely.  Add frosting between all layers, on top and on the sides.  We like this frosting so I make a large batch.

 The frosted cake was covered with red Fondarific fondant.

In all cases I chilled the 1/8th inch thick rolled gum paste before cutting.  Immediately after cutting, before removing the cut from the mat, I return the mat to the 'frig for another 20 minutes.  I then remover the cut and added it to the cake.  During the chill time, cut the next mat.

Using Cake Basics I cut the large doily for the top of the cake in white Cricut gum paste.  I added Wilton blue food paste to Cricut white gum paste to create the blue gum paste.  I used Holiday Cakes and cut out the Happy Christmas phrase. 

I added Wilton evergreen food paste to the white Cricut gum past to create the green gum paste.  I used the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge to cut the holly leaves.

Using the left over red fondant, I made the holly berries by hand. I added a touch of white gum paste to each berry as a highlight.

Decorating this cake was truly pretty easy, just remember to chill all fondant/gum paste before cutting and after cutting before you remove them for the mats. 

Because I have not shared a cake in soooo long (darned weight watchers!), I am offering a special Christmas blog candy. ...A chance to win a $50 Merry Christmas Gift Voucher from Custom Crops!!!  Just become a blog follower and leave a comment telling me about your favorite flavor of cake and you will be entered. 

I will draw one winner (combining comments from both blogs) this Friday so that you may have time to get yourself a great holiday gift.  This will be open to both of my blogs!

One more thing - My friend Terri over at Stamps Alive - see the link in the right hand column - is having a sale on Copic Markers!!!  Go Terri!


Here is the deal: 
Copic Sketch Sale! Buy 10 @ $5.15 Pick 4 FREE!! Do the Math!
Must Order by Friday the 17th at Midnight (pacific time)
email Terri @ stampsalive@cox.net to order!

BBTB2 Spooky Candle Card

Hello Monday Bloggers!  Today the BBTB2 design team was asked to use the candle cut from the October 31st cartridge to create a project.  Sadly, I do not own that particular cartridge so following the design team rules, I used a different candle cut to complete the challenge.  I used the candle from Christmas Noel Solutions cartridge.  I love Christmas Noel; it is one of my favorite holiday cartridges. 

I cut the candle in rust Bazzill cardstock and used gold cardstock to cut the top layer of the candle stand.  I cut a basic black Bazzill shadow.  I used fabulous glitter cardstock to cut a frame from Happy Hauntings, tweaking the size in Design Studio.  I must tell you about this particular glitter cardstock:  I cut the glitter cardstock with the blade set on 6 and the pressure on High.  I only needed to cut this particular cardstock once.  This is not the hugely heavy glitter cardstock that you will find in the craft stores.  I purchased this cardstock from Scrap Your Trip (Yeah Julie!) at this LINK. 

I cut the boo two layer cut from Holiday Cakes to create the inside sentiment.  I also added a strip of the the front background paper.  The base card was cut in light gray and a strip of boo/spooky ribbon was added to the bottom front edge.

Be sure to go by BBTB2 and check out all of the fabulous designs.  I am always amazed at the talent of this group of designers!

My Saturday at Everyday Cricut

Hello scrappers, happy Saturday.   I love the third Saturday of the month because those AWESOME ladies at Everyday Cricut (woot, woot for Joy and Melanie!) allow me to contribute to their blog.  And this month's project for Everyday Cricut ties into my blog party 200K celebration:  I used the Halloween cuts from HOLIDAY CAKES!  I wanted to show those of you who might need some ideas that the cake cartridges are not just about fondant and gum paste cutting! Go over to Everyday Cricut to get more details and see more photos of the layout.  Also you can register for their weekly giveaways (hint, hint).

Remember that if you have not already registered for my blog candy give away, you still have time.   The drawing will be tomorrow (Sunday) after I return home from a scrapping weekend at the lake.  I love spending time with girlfriends!

To register to win you will need to do two things:  become a blog follower and drop down to the BLOG PARTY post and leave a comment telling me what you would plan as a first project using Holiday Cakes.