red velvet-y

Confession: I really do NOT like store bought cake. As in, cake that is made in the store bakery. If this makes me some sort of snob, I'm okay with it, as long as I never have to eat the stuff. No matter how *good* people claim these cakes to be, they just taste fake to me. And, they smell fake too. 

(On a side note, this was huge ordeal when planning our wedding. I found my one store-bought exception: St. Cupcake in Portland. Oh goodness. Yumm. If you are ever in Portland, make sure you stop by and try their coconut cupcake. Oh fantastic -- now I'm craving a coconut cupcake!)

My neurosis aside, I absolutely think that everyone should have cake for their birthday! Birthdays are sort of huge and important for me. I love them. They are the one day that gets to be all about you. And, how can that not be fun? So, a couple years ago, I started baking my family their choice of cake for their birthday party. It's become a super fun tradition, and it gives me a great excuse to bake.

Last week I mentioned that I was baking a red velvet cake. It was my aunt's birthday and this was her choice. Now, before last weekend I had never eaten red velvet cake, much less made one. But I'm here today to share this recipe with you because this cake was AWESOME.

From the super moist *PINK* cakes (I'm pretty sure I put too much food coloring in, and I wish the pics better reflected the pinkness) . . .

 

To the amazing brown-sugar cream cheese frosting (is there anyone out there that doesn't love homemade cream cheese frosting?! It's dangerous.) . . .

 

This cake completely exceeded my expectations. We all loved it and I'm still get rave reviews days later.

So, next time you're looking to made red velvet cake, or you just want to try it, make sure you use Joy the Baker's recipe. You will thank me. :)

So, I'm curious . . .what is your favorite type of cake friends?