red velvet birthday cake.

i am not sure why, but for some reason i rarely bake. i always think of cake [and sweets of the like] as a special occasion food. so when friends birthday's come around, i am more than excited to make cupcakes, cakes or whatever they want! this time around the request was for a red velvet cake. the cake was undeniably delicious. moist, decadent and the "butter cream cheese" frosting ... i don't even have words for, just a stream of drool. i had an issue getting the frosting in-between the cake layers to become thick enough [which led to the red coloring from the cake to be absorbed into the frosting layer that i did somewhat manage to create, making it almost invisible]. i am pretty sure not allowing enough time for the frosting to cool attributed to its poor consistency, so i adjusted the instructions to alleviate the issue. even with it not being perfect on this try, it's still a beaut!

red velvet cake.
cake ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups raw sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vinegar
2 oz red food coloring [or beet juice]

frosting ingredients:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
8 oz vegan "cream cheese"
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup soy milk

cake instructions:
1.) preheat oven to 350°F.
2.) in a cup pour the soy milk and add the lemon juice. let sit while preparing the next few ingredients. [this makes "buttermilk".]
3.) in a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar and then add the applesauce.
4.) in a small bowl mix together the cocoa powder and food coloring to form a slight paste. add it to the creamed mixture.
5.) mix the salt and flour together and then add it to the batter alternately with the "buttermilk" in three batches, mixing after each addition.
6.) add vanilla extract then mix in the baking soda and vinegar.
7.) pour batter into 2 greased cake pans [i used round] and bake for 40 minutes [or until toothpick comes out clean]. while cooling, make the frosting.

frosting instructions:
1.) in a medium bowl, mix the "cream cheese" and margarine together.
2.) add sugar, vanilla and soy milk. mixture will be very soft [almost a glue-like texture]. place in fridge to cool for 20 minutes.

assembly instructions:
1.) after the cake and frosting have cooled, frost the first layer with half the icing and repeat process till completely frosted.
serves: 10