Super Bowl was upon us and because of the pandemic, there was no planned get together with family or friends. SIzing down needed to happen, which included the dessert. Chocolate is always a winner, but wanted something different than brownies. With two birthdays to prepare for this week as well, I wanted something less time-consuming than a Smith Island Cake. My remedy? My Picnic Crazy Cake is quick to make and the recipe was easy to split in half. What changes needed to be made for a Red Velvet Cake? I compared it to a recipe I have, but not yet posted on the blog. Same amount of flour as the first cake mentioned so I compared the ingredients. All I needed to add was half of both the espresso powder and red food coloring.
This is easy to put together and the step-by-step pictures were not taken during its invention, All I have is the final product, which should be enough for you to want to try it. So until I make this again,, I will briefly explain he steps.
Whisk the dry ingredients togethr in a medium bowl. Create 4 indentions(wells) with one substainially larger than the other 3. In the larger hole, pour the canola oil. In the 3 smaller ones, pou in the vanilla, red food coloring and vinegar. DO NOT MIX YET!
Next, pour 1 cup of HOT watter over all of the ingredients. NOW you can mix it all up by hand using a whisk, wooden spoon or spatula. Pour this mixture into a prepared 8″ x 8″ pan. You can either use a cooking spray or parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean when removed.
Allow it to cool completely before icing, if using. On this particular version, I made half of my Buttercream Frosting recipe, with a few sprinkles on the top. YOu could use a creamcheese frosting or just sprinkle it with some confectioner’s sugar. Maybe by these colors(sprinkles were gold), you can infer who I wanted to win. LOL !
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 T espresso powder
- 3 T cocoa
- 3/4 c granulated sugar
- 1 t baking soda
- 1/4 t salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 t red food coloring
- 1 t white vinegar
- 1 t vanilla
- 1/3 c canola oil
- 1 c HOT water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Whisk dry ingredients together.
- Create 3 small holes and one larger hole in dry ingredients.
- In the larger hole, place the canola oil. In the smaller holes place the other wet inggredients.
- Pour the 1 cup of HOT water over all ingredients, then mix to combine.
- Pour batter in a prepared 8" x 8" pan (sprayed or lined with parchment paper).
- Bake for 25-27 minutes or until toothpick entered in center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before icing
