Blue Suede Cake

This is a beautiful Elvis named cake. I adapted the recipe from James McNair's Cakes. It has a wonderful spiced flavor, and is best topped with cream cheese icing. You will get oohs and ahhs when you cut into this surprisingly pretty, cake, and you just may have to tell people to "Lay Off" your Blue Suede Cake!

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 1 two layer nine inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄4 cups cake flour
• 2  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2  teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 2  eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2  teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 (1 ounce) bottles  blue gel  food coloring
• 1  cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Position racks in oven so cake will bake in the middle of the oven.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, set aside.
4. Place flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a sifter.
5. Sift into a bowl and repeat two more times.
6. Whisk well to combine all dry ingredients and set aside.
7. In a separate bowl mix butter at medium speed until soft and creamy (about 60 seconds).
8. With the mixer running, slowly add the sugar, pausing to scrape down sides.
9. Continue beating at medium speed until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
10. Slowly drizzle in the eggs and beat well, stopping to scrape down the sides.
11. Add the vanilla and food coloring and blend well.
12. You may wish to add a little red to give a more blueish versus green tone to your cake, depending on your brand of food color.
13. Gel food color will not dilute your batter, but liquid food color will work fine too.
14. Using the mixer on low speed, fold in about one-third of the flour mixture, then half of the the buttermilk, scraping down the sides of the bowl and folding just until the ingredients are incorporated.
15. In the same manner, fold in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining buttermilk, and finally the remaining flour mixture.
16. Divide batter evenly between the two pans.
17. Smooth surfaces with rubber spatula.
18. Bake until each cake layer springs back when lightly touched in the center with your fingertip and a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted (about 25-30 minutes).