Every good southern girl has her own red velvet cake, mine is a little different in that I use a cooked butter cream frosting but everyone who tries mine, says it is the best!  I am placing my recipe here with a bit of hesitation, but hey, the only people looking at my blog these days are my friends, so why not share!

Ingredients for cakes

• Butter and flour for the pans
• (3) 9” rounds of parchment paper for the cake pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 3/4 cups butter – softened
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Standby Butter Cream Frosting – recipe below or HERE

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place parchment paper in the bottom of each pan and lightly butter and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, butter,  buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a stand mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

STANDBY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Ingredients

Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

Frost generously and enjoy!