Red Velvet Cake

I've never been a fan of red velvet cake. I'm a skeptic. What's it supposed to be? It's chocolate, but it's not. It's bright red, but it's not fruity. And everyone says that they love the cream cheese frosting but, you can put cream cheese frosting on so many other (better) things - like carrot cake or brownies or zucchini bread or pumpkin cookies, or.......anything else really.  Anyway, I've just chosen to avoid it. And honestly, I'm much more of a pie and pastry kinda gal anyway.

Some random pies I made this winter

However, as fate would have it, I was recently asked to bake a red velvet cake for an office birthday celebration, which sent me on the hunt for a creative alternative. After much searching, trying to warm up to the idea of red velvet, I found this stunning recipe for Red Wine Velvet Cake from one of my favorite food bloggers, +smitten kitchen.  No red dye, a simple ingredient list, and, half a bottle of red wine! How could I go wrong?!

I didn't get any pictures of the process because, not only was my kitchen covered in splatters of red wine, cocoa powder and icing sugar, but my hands were too, which is NOT conducive to picture taking. So, you'll just have to use your imagination. However, I did capture the finished product. Each layer came out of the pan beautifully, and it went together surprisingly easily. I like the rustic, open sides, but was trying to make it a little fancy, only to realize that I should stick to pie crust and not cake decorating.

Red Wine Velvet Cake

As you can see, the half bottle of red wine sadly, did NOT make it a red cake. Either my cocoa powder was too dark, or my wine was too sweet?! Regardless, it tastes exactly like you would imagine a rich, chocolaty, red wine soaked cake, with whipped mascarpone frosting should taste, and it was a big hit in the office!

Cake stands are a beautiful luxury

Also, check out this fun cake stand. A friend of mine knows a lady who makes these from reclaimed dishes she finds at thrift stores. She uses sundae glasses or vases or candlestick holders, and mounts them to platters. I was delighted to receive this as a gift.

While I'm still not a converted red velvet cake fan, I'm glad I gave this a try, and may even make it again sometime!