Red Velvet Eggnog Cake

This year seemed to have just flown by hasn't it? 

Winter, Spring, Summer, and now Fall is flying by! Where does the time go?

Wherever it goes it's going by even faster now that the holidays are here. 

With school wrapping up, gifts to buy, cookies to be baked, its an endless list of craziness to do!

But I love it!

And Maybe if we are lucky this cold snap we got today will stay and we can all build fires and drink hot chocolate here in Austin for Thanksgiving!

This cake is a little more Christmas-y than Thanksgiving-y, but I thought i'd post it early so ya'll would plan to make it! Trust me it is just as delicious as it looks!

A rich red velvet cake with creamy eggnog frosting... What could be better for the holidays?

I was originally planning on baking a pecan or pumpkin pie, or something more Thanksgiving like, but I just happened to have red food coloring on hand and eggnog seemed very tempting. Owell, I still have a little over a week to bake for Thanksgiving!

Having previously made Magnolia Bakery's recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes I had high expectations for their recipe for Red Velvet Cake! Although it was for cupcakes, I just baked it in 3 8" cake pans instead. The 3rd layer I left aside to snack on... Don't judge, it's just that good!

Red Velvet Eggnog Cake

Ingredients

3 ⅓ cups cake flour (not self-rising)

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened shopping list

2 ¼ cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

6 tablespoons red food coloring

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Frosting

1 stick butter

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1/4 eggnog

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter between 3 8 " cake pans and bake for 30-35 mins, or until it passes a cake tester test.

For the frosting cream butter and cream cheese together. Add in eggnog and mix well. 1 cup at a time add in the powdered sugar until desired consistency. May need more or less depending how thick you want it.

Frost cake and dig in!