Red Velvet Trifle

Well.. I would like to say that every new recipe I try, turns out JUST as I am planning. But that would be lying, if I did say that. This is a PERFECT example.

My husband, LOVES red velvet cake. And I figured that the color would make for a very festive and fun dessert. So I found a recipe for a red velvet bundt cake with cinnamon cream cheese glaze. I wasnt going to do the cinnamon cream cheese glave, I was going to do a peppermint cream cheese icing (I was going to put peppermint extract in a can of cream cheese icing=easy). I tend to lean towards bundt cakes, because they are easy and pretty. You put them in ONE pan and turn it over and voila, you have a cake. No stacking and icing 3 layers. Easy.

I have made bundt cakes OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.. I never have problems. Well.. of course, I had problems. Half of the bundt cake was stuck in the pan. UGH. I had to do some quick thinking, and decided that I could use my pretty trifle dish.. and maybe it would look like I PLANNED to make a trifle dish. :)

I decided I would toast some coconut. And do some layering... red velvet cake, drizzle of cream cheese icing, cool whip and toasted coconut. Pretty. And YUM! I am going to give you the recipe for the red velvet cake I made.. but obviously, you could make it even more easily and CHEAPER and just buy the boxed red velvet cake mix.

Red Velvet Trifle

What You Need (for the cake):
CAKE:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ounce red food coloring (use 2 ounces if you desire a deeper red color)

What You Do (for the cake):

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray bundt cake pan generously with cooking spray; then dust lightly with flour. (if you are turning into a trifle, i seriously think you can use any type of pan and adjust your cooking time)

2. With an electric mixer, blend butter and sugar in a large bowl; set aside.

3. Sift together flour and salt; set aside.

4. Mix the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl.

5. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well after each addition.

6. In a small bowl, mix red food coloring and cocoa powder; add to the cake batter and mix just until combined.

7. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Baking time will vary based on the size of your pan.

8. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes before turning bundt pan over onto rack to remove from the pan.

Additional Things You Need for the Trifle:
toasted coconut (put coconut in pan over medium heat until browned)
can of cream cheese icing (microwaved so it is more liquidy)
cool whip

What You Do:
Cube the cooled cake
Layer cake, drizzle of cream cheese icing, cool whip and coconut.
I was able to make 3 layers in my trifle dish.

PRETTY and YUMMY
cool whip