Blue Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

My friend Alana hosted a "Galaxy Quest"-themed party this past weekend, complete with blue jello shots and blue mixed drinks, yum! So of course, I wanted to make a dessert and I wanted it to be blue. Red velvet cake is my favorite cake of all cakes! Thus, I decided to try to make it with blue food coloring instead and see how it turned out. I used an angel food cake recipe for the base and added a tablespoon of cocoa powder in an attempt to keep the cake from turning greenish from the egg yolks in normal red velvet recipes. Because of the angel food base, the cake turned out with a much lighter flavor than red velvet, which is usually super rich. I also threw some blueberries into the actual cake and made a blueberry syrup to drizzle over the slices for some extra fruity flavor.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the syrup to the party. BUT, I did manage to bring the cake, which ended up being incredibly difficult to transport by myself while driving and balancing it on a cake stand. I basically ended up holding the base of the stand in between my legs in my lap while I was driving. Then, when I had to brake suddenly, the cake lurched forward just enough to smear a bit of frosting on my steering wheel, and because I couldn't stop on the highway to clean it off, it smeared all over the wheel while I was steering. I made it to the valley though, cake intact! And it was well worth it. Galaxy Quest = awesome.

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Blue Velvet Cake

1 and 1/4 Cups Cake Flour, sifted

1 and 1/4 Cups Ultra-Fine Sugar

11 Egg Whites, room temperature

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 oz. Blue Food Coloring

1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar

1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 and 1/2 Cups Blueberries, fresh not frozen

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the cocoa powder. In a large bowl, beat together the egg whites, vanilla extract, cream of tartar and salt until they begin to hold soft peaks. Then beat in the remaining 3/4 cups sugar and the blue food coloring until the mixture begins to hold stiff peaks, about 4 minutes or so.

Slowly fold in 1/4 cup of the flour mixture at a time. Use a spatula and take care not to stir the mixture, just keep folding until all of the flour mixture is incorporated. Pour  one cup of blueberries into the batter and fold them in as well. Pour the batter into two well-greased 9-inch cake pans and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe below. Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Shake the pan a little bit to loosen the grip of the cake, then place a plate on top of the pan and, wearing oven mitts, flip it over so that the pan is on the top and the plate is on the bottom. Gently remove the pan and place the plated cake layer in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Repeat this process with the second cake pan as well.

While the cake layers are cooling, make the Blueberry Syrup recipe below. Once the cake layers and the frosting have finished cooling, place the bottom cake layer onto the display surface, (i.e. a cake stand or pretty plate that you will serve it off of), and begin evenly frosting the top of the bottom cake layer. Then, center the second cake layer on top of the bottom cake layer so that they line up perfectly. Now frost the sides and top of the cake so that the entire cake surface is frosted and no cake surface is visible through the frosting. Place 1/4 cup of the frosting in the center-top of the cake in a dollop. Take the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries and arrange them on top of the dollop in the center of the cake. Serve at room temperature with a drizzle of blueberry syrup over each individual cake slice.

Cream Cheese Frosting

10 tb butter, softened

16 oz cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

4 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter together until they are completely combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix until blended. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to help solidify the texture.

Blueberry Syrup

1 Cup Blueberries, fresh not frozen

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

1 Cup Blueberry Jam, good quality

In a small saucepan, cook the blueberries, sugar and water over low heat for about 8 minutes, or until the sugar has completely dissolved, breaking the blueberries apart with the end of a wooden spoon when they begin to soften. Pour the mixture into a food processor, add the jam, and blend until the mixture is smooth. Pour into a serving bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill until serving time.