Red Velvet Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Made this cake for Trent's birthday & wanted to put the recipe somewhere I could find it again, it's a keeper! :)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C sifted flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C shortening

1 1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 (1 oz) bottle red food coloring

1 oz water

2 TBS unsweetened cocoa

1 C buttermilk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

For the Icing:

8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 stick real butter, softened

2 C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 tsp of milk (adjust as needed to get right consistency)

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour two 9-inch cake pans.

2. In a small bowl, sift cake flour with baking soda

3. Mash shortening with sugar in mixing bowl until combined. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Pour red food coloring into a small bowl, and fill the empty food coloring container with water; add the water to the food coloring. Stir in cocoa powder to make a paste, and mix the paste into the shortening mixture.

4. Stir buttermilk, salt, vanilla extract & apple cider vinegar into a bowl & mix into the colored shortening mixture, until well combined. Scrape batter into cake pans.

5. Bake 20-30 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for one hour before icing.

Icing directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter & vanilla until smooth

2. Gradually add powder sugar in--keep smooth--mix well

3. Add in tsp's of milk as needed to reach desired consistency

4. Spread over cake (be sure to ice bottom cake completely before setting top one on)