Red Velvet Cake from scratch

This is the cake I made for my son Mason on his 20th birthday.  He asked for a Red Velvet Cake, so I went looking for a recipe.  I found this one on Joy of Baking.com and since I had all the ingredients (mostly), I decided to give it a try.  Clicking on the title above will take you directly to the original recipe.

Red Velvet Cake:

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (substitute 2T of cornstarch per cup of all purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup  buttermilk (add 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk)

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350  Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

I did not have cake pans, so I baked it in a 13X9 glass baking dish.  I only had 1 Tablespoon of red food coloring, since the coloring is for appearances only, I just made it with what I had.  This is a very dense, but extremely tasty chocolate cake!