Red Velvet Cake

My brother, Will, is not a baker. He is also not cook. He never has been. Sometimes he sautés onions and garlic together to eat over pasta, but that's about the extent of his kitchen skills- or so I thought. My mom and I were shocked when he went to the grocery store yesterday (thats a shocker to begin with!!) and came home with a bunch of ingredients for some kind of dessert. He wouldn't tell us what it was, but, whatever it was, he wanted to make it completely by himself. My brother ended up baking one of the best red velvet cakes I have ever had in my life completely from scratch.

Red Velvet Cake:
Vegetable oil for the pans
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crushed pecans for garnish

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 2 round 9-inch cake pans.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. Let cool completely in the pans. Once cooled, carefully turn the cakes out onto separate plates or cooling racks.

To make the frosting, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter with a mixer on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy, occasionally scraping down the bowl. Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using.

To frost the cake, place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a cake stand or plate. Spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. Spread enough frosting to make about a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.

Recipe by: Cakeman Raven, Cakeman Raven Confectionery, NYC