Box Cake? No thanks!

I was beyond disappointed when I came across this gorgeous picture of red-velvet strawberry shortcake only to find that she used cake from a box! I decided to make the cake for Easter but definitely change the recipe.

So here's what I did-

For the Red-Velvet Cake:

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 or 2 ounces red food coloring (depending on how red you want it to be)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled vinegar

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Grease two 8-inch cake pans and preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, sift together flour and salt- set aside

Mix shortening, sugar and eggs

Add cocoa powder and vanilla

Then add the flour mixture and buttermilk

Separately, combine baking soda and vinegar. Once combined, add them to the bowl.

Make sure everything is mixed well and add the food coloring.

Pour an even amount of batter into the two cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until your tooth pick comes out clean.

For the Shortcake:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Grease two 8-inch round pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees
Beat butter (at room temperature) with sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs and yolks (one at a time)
Add vanilla
Alternate adding flour and milk (in two parts each)
Spread batter in pans and bake for 30-35 minutes

Putting the Cakes Together:

Ingredients:
2 containers of fresh strawberries (washed and sliced)
1 or two containers of whip cream (depending on how thick you want your layers)

Directions:
*It will be hard to move the cake once it is put together. So, if you can, assemble it on the tray that you plan to serve it on. Also, make sure that the cakes are completely cool! If they aren't, the whip cream will melt.
Place one cake on the plate
Add a layer of whip cream
Add a layer of strawberries
Continue this process until the cake is assembled.

This picture definitely doesn't do the cake any justice. It was too tall to fit in my cake container so it ended up getting smushed and rolling around in the car before we got to Easter brunch :). It tasted good though, and that's all that really matters in the end. But just for future references, it'd be a good idea to  not use all of the red velvet cake batter- so the cake would be shorter. And avoid any traveling.

Enjoy!

-Leah :]