Red Velvet Halloween Cake

A delicious red velvet Halloween cake that is blood red and topped with black roses will keep the ghouls and goblins happy this year!

It is finally October therefore I can finally post Halloween themed desserts without feeling too bad, right!? I could have started Halloween in August (when I start my Christmas music) but I thought I would spare you all!

This Red Velvet Halloween Cake was not only gorgeous, but it was delicious too. We are not big red velvet fans over here, but it was gobbled up pretty quickly! It is perfect for Halloween too! The blood red center combined with the decadent black frosting make for a pretty spooky cake!

I like my cakes high, so I opted to make smaller rounds rather than doubling the batch. It still served quite a few people because I was able to make smaller slices do to the height. Press play below to watch the video on how we made this cake.

I have tried many different brands of food coloring, but always end up using McCormick food colors when I want a vibrant color. I love using their black during Halloween and Valentine’s Day. Mixed with a chocolate frosting, you can really get a rich dark color. No, this post is not sponsored, I am just telling you what I use in my kitchen and why 😉 The recipe provided below was made for making the rosettes. So don’t be alarmed by the amount, you need lots of frosting! If you don’t plan on making the rosettes, I would suggest cutting the recipe in half. For a great tutorial on how to make the rosettes, go here.

If  you have a party coming up, make this cake! It will not disappoint! Happy haunting!

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Red Velvet Halloween Cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream , room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs

Frosting

• 2 cups unsalted butter , room temp.
• 7½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon black food coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease 4 6in baking rounds.
2. In a bowl, combine cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix together.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time.
5. In a small bowl combine sour cream, food coloring, vinegar and extract.
6. Alternatively, gradually add flour and sour cream mixture and mix on low until just combined. Do not over mix.
7. Evenly distribute batter into 4 pans. Bake pans for about 20 minutes or until a knife is inserted and comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before applying crumb coat.
9. For the frosting, combine all the ingredients and beat on low for 1 minute.
10. Increase mixing speed to medium high and beat for 3 minutes or until smooth.
11. Apply crumb coat to cake and place the rest of the frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.
12. Place cake and frosting bag in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
13. Once cold, apply rosettes and refrigerate to set.

Recipe Notes

Recipe very slightly adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Red-Velvet-Cake-with-Raspberries-and-Blueberries-108256