Red Velvet Cake Layers

1. Preheat & Prep: Preheat oven to 345°F. Prepare (4) 6 inch cake pans or (3) 8 inch cake pans with baking spray or a homemade pan release. You can also use parchment paper rounds at the bottom of the pans for extra insurance.
2. Melt Butter: In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter at 15-30 second intervals until completely melted. Set aside.
3. Wet Ingredients: Measure sour cream and milk into a small, microwave-safe bowl. If not already at room temperature, microwave for 30 seconds to bring to room temperature and set aside.
4. Eggs: If eggs are not room temperature, add whole eggs into a bowl with warm water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Crack eggs into a separate bowl, and set aside. Doing this gives you a chance to fish out any unwanted egg shells!
5. Dry Ingredients: Add flour, sugar, red velvet cake mix, cocoa powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk or spoon to gently combine the dry ingredients.
6. One Bowl: Combine all ingredients into the larger bowl containing the dry ingredients. Don’t forget to add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract!
7. Mix It Up! Whisk or mix ingredients together with an electric hand mixer, starting on low and increasing speed to med-high. Scraping bowl periodically to make sure all ingredients are incorporating and not stuck on the bottom. Mix until batter is smooth and fluffy, usually 1-2 minutes!
8. Pour into Pans: Pour batter into prepared cake pans. If you can, use a food scale to evenly distribute batter between pans for consistent cake layer size.
9. Bake: Bake for 30-32 min for 6 inch pans, and 28-30 min for 8 inch pans. Insert a toothpick or knife into the center of the cake – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, it’s good to go. You can also gently press your finger into the top of the cake, if it springs back slowly, it’s done!
10. Cooling: Let cakes cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, and transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1. Whip It Up! Start by adding the room temperature butter and cream cheese to a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip the butter on a medium speed for about 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once.
2. Vanilla & Salt: Add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk to the butter and cream cheese mixture, along with the vanilla extract and salt.
3. Start Mixing! Turn mixer on medium speed until these ingredients are incorporated. This should only take about 30 seconds. Again, scrape that bowl!
4. Powdered Sugar: Lower mixer speed to the lowest setting and start adding the powdered sugar in increments. Adding a tablespoon of heavy cream or milk between each.
5. Mix on Low: Slightly increase the mixer speed to help mix these ingredients, but do not turn on too high or you will whip too much air into the buttercream.
6. Scrape, Scrape, Scrape: Remember to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated!
7. White Gel Food Coloring: After adding all powered sugar and heavy cream, finish by adding 2 teaspoons of white gel food coloring. (This step is optional, and only necessary if you want a bright white buttercream)
8. Finish: Mix on low-medium until all ingredients are incorporated, at this point you should have perfectly white, smooth cream cheese buttercream!