EASY Red Velvet Torte

I have not been sharing much here on the blog lately. Mostly because not much is happening here at the farmhouse except the normal daily things which I'm sure you don't care to hear about. I got my 2 year old potty trained, which to me, is a huge task and one I dread. He still has accidents sometimes but they are few and far between. As with my other 2, he isn't night trained either. For some reason, my boys seem to take awhile for that to develop.

The weather here in NW Ohio has been brutal and some days I feel like all I get done is feed wood into the woodstove (our main source of heat). This week, though, the cold has relented a little and we had some 'balmy' temps in the 40's. That has made for lots of melting snow and flooding. But I'm not complaining; I'm glad to see the snow go! I'm getting anxious for Spring.

And now for the purpose of this post: Red Velvet Torte. I made this cake on Valentines Day but am just now getting it shared. It looks fancy but I assure you, it really is easy. The recipe I got from my mom was chocolate and I wanted something 'Valentiney' so I adapted it to suit me. It was a big hit at our house; really moist and not overly sweet. To make it, you will need:

1 Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 small box chocolate pudding
1 stick butter - melted
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs

Mix all this together until well blended and divide evenly into 2 9" round (or heart-shaped) pans that have been greased and floured. Bake at 325*F for 30 min. or until done. Cool 15 min. then overturn them out onto a plate to completely cool. When cool, carefully slice each cake in half.

***A tip for baking cakes to be flatter on top instead of domed is to bake them at a lower temperature. This allows the center to bake evenly with the sides.

For the frosting, mix in small mixing bowl the following:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat until color lightens then fold in 1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip. Divide frosting into 4 equal parts.

Assemble the torte starting with cake and topping each layer with frosting. For the top layer, you can 'decorate' however you wish. I dusted the cake with powdered sugar then made rosettes around the edge. Chocolate curls or hearts would be neat too.

***A tip for getting the frosting on the layers without smearing a bunch of crumbs into it is to put it in an icing bag (or Ziploc with the corner cut off) and pipe it on beginning with a ring or 2 around the outside edge and filling in the middle in a back and forth motion.

Refrigerate the completed torte if not serving immediately. Also refrigerate any leftovers {if you have any}. :)

from the farmhouse