• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups of cake flour
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
• 1 1/2 of teaspoons salt
• 2 cups of canola oil
• 2 1/4 of cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
• 1 1/2 of teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 of cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of white vinegar.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put a teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans. Place the cake pans in the oven for a few minutes until the butter has melted. Remove the cake pans from the oven. Brush the bottom and sides of each cake pan with butter. Line each pan with parchment paper. (I used a half sheet cake pan to bake the cake in)

2. Whisk the cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Put the oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat on low and very slowly add the red food coloring. Next add the vanilla. Then add the flour mixture.  Alternate with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down the bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place the baking soda in a small dish, stir in the vinegar and add to the batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter among the  pans. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for frosting

• 8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
  1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter at room temperature
  3 cups of confectioner?s sugar, sifted
  1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. 
2. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Next add the sugar and the vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine.
4. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.