Special Cake for your Special Someone on Valentine's Day

Red is the traditional and time honored Valentine's Day color and what better way to bake a delicious red velvet cake recipe to surprise your loved one on your anniversary or on Valentine's Day. Here is the red velvet cake recipe from scratch that turns out perfectly every time.

Items needed:

- 500 ml of beet juice
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 115 grams of softened butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 2 1/4 cups of cake flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preparation:

- Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans.
- Separate the egg whites and yolks in different mixing bowls.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- To the egg yolks, add the sugar and butter and beat them together to get a fluffy mix.
- Add the buttermilk to the mix and beat well so that the sugar dissolves.
- Stir in the beet juice and mix well.
- Sift the cocoa powder and blend the mix well to get a nice red color.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to form soft peaks. 
- Add vinegar and salt to the mix and beat some more.
- In another bowl, sift the cake flour and baking soda together.
- Add the flour mix to the red batter and mix well. You can use an electric blender for this process.
- Now add the egg white mix to the batter and mix with a wooden spoon. Do not over mix; just enough to blend everything.
- Pour the batter in the prepared cake pans.
- Bake them in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350F.
- Remove from the pans and cool before cutting in slices to serve.

Substitutions:

- You can use instant hot chocolate mix instead of cocoa powder.
- Use 1/2 cup Crisco instead of butter.
- Replace beet juice with 2 bottles of red food coloring.

Serving:

Red velvet cakes are traditionally served with cream cheese frosting but you can also try it with:

- Chocolate frosting or a glaze.
- Fluffy white frosting with toasted coconut.

Here is the recipe for making toasted coconut:

- Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Spread 1 1/2 cups of sweetened and shredded coconut over it in a fine layer.
- Bake for about 6-8 minutes at 350F. Toss the coconut in between for even cooking.
- Remove from the oven and cool.
- Sprinkle on the frosted cake to cover from all sides.

To prepare red velvet cupcakes:

- Grease and flour 24 cupcake molds.
- Pour the batter in the molds and bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes.