Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or 3/4 c. plain unsweetened whole milk yogurt plus 1/2 c. 2% milk)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F; grease three 9” round cake pans with butter and line bottoms with parchment. (If you’ve only got 2 pans, that’s okay).

2. Sift flour, cocoa and salt into a bowl.

3. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add oil and beat until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, add red food coloring or beet juice, if using, very slowly. (Take care, it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk or yogurt & milk in 2 batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat just until batter is smooth.

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40-45 minute if using three pans, 50 minute for two pans. Let cool in pans 20 min., then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.