Ridiculously Easy Red Velvet Cake

I hate food coloring with a passion. It's so unnatural, and I just imagine it entering my stomach and then turning my internal organs all different colors. Silly, I know, but it makes me a little squeamish. Regardless, when one of your best friends requests red velvet cake for her birthday, you have to suck it up and go buy red food coloring.

I know the list of ingredients for this cake is short... probably too short, but I was not in the mood for a challenge - partly because I was having a hectic week, but mostly because I recently had a disastrous experience with a strawberry cake. Thankfully, the final product had tasted great, but the process was a roller coaster that will not be relived on this blog.  :) Anyway...  I found this recipe for an easy Red Velvet Cake, and it was hassle-free and delicious!

You'll need:
1 package white cake mix
1 package (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
red food coloring (as desired)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9-inch round pans.

Throw all the ingredients (except food coloring) in a bowl - yup, all at once.

Blend everything together until all the lumps are gone and the batter is creamy. People always ask me why I never snack on batter, and it's because I always picture the above picture right before I start to take a taste, and I just can't do it! Luckily, there are usually taste tasters hanging around the house to do the job.

Add the red food coloring gradually, blending until you reach a red that makes you happy. I used a gel to reduce some of the ickyness that comes with liquid food coloring, but either should work fine.

Divide equally into your prepared pans and bake for 27-31 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

After icing the cake with my Cream Cheese & Cool Whip frosting, I piped milk chocolate frosting around the edges and tried to draw a "J" on top for Jade. It looked a little wonky, so Brit took over to make it look better. :)

Dusted with edible glitter.  Purple... Jade's favorite color.

Sending you love (dyed red) from my kitchen.