The Bubble Room - Red Velvet Cake

The Bubble Room is a famous restaurant on Captiva Island, Florida. While the restaurant itself is one of the most unique and fun places to eat, their desserts are the true treat! Its founder, Katie Gardenia, sold the restaurant a few years ago, but it still makes her grandmother's legendary recipe for Red Velvet Cake. This cake is large, rich, and truly sinful! Here's the recipe:

CAKE:
3 3/4 cups Self Rising Flour
2 1/4 cups Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Baking Cocoa
3 Eggs
2 1/4 cups Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 cups Whole Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp White Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3 oz (3 boxes) Red Food Coloring

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking cocoa in a bowl. Add the eggs, vinegar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring, and mix well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and spoon the mixture into 3 greased and floured 9" round cake pans. Bake for 40-60 minutes, until the layers separate from the sides of the pan and poking the middle with a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in pans for 10-20 minutes. While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting:

16 oz Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups Butter, softened
2 (16oz) boxes of Confectioners Sugar
Whole or halved Pecans

Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl until light. Beat in the confectioners sugar.

Finally, remove one layer of the cake and place on a serving dish. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the cooled cake, and then place the second layer of the cake. Repeat with the third layer. It is easiest to coat the entire 3 layers with a thin base of icing, and then let the cake cool for an hour. Then take out of the refrigerator and top the rest of the cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top of the cake with pecans, or make decorative shapes or designs with them.

Enjoy this cake with a large glass of cold milk and some friends. It is large and rich, so thin pieces are all you need to enjoy it. It is such an amazing cake, I served it at my wedding. I hope you enjoy it too!