I'm making a birthday cake for my best friend's and my joint celebration. She wants red velvet and I plan on creating a cream cheese buttercream to frost it but I want something different to fill it. I like using jams (strawberry sounds good for this) or custard but I'm still pondering. Suggestions?

Hmmmmm......I wish you were MY friend!! I love red velvet cake, but IMHO, that is such a traditional cake, I would be very leery of tinkering too much. Cream cheese icing is the standard for both filling and icing. Of course that's my fave, so I am prejudiced. And, it IS your b-day, too---so innovate away!

off-topic: I was reading an article about a baker who is famous for her red velvet cakes. Hers takes 2 bottles of food coloring, and she said she peridocially gets complaints or questions from people who say she should not use that coloring, or at least use less.

Her response was that if the red color bothers you that much, you need to make/eat some other kind of cake (!!!!!)

I'm partial to a nice boiled frosting on my red velvet.

My favorite cream cheese frosting is: 8 oz butter creamed with 8 oz cream cheese, flavored with 2 tsp each of vanilla and lemon juice, and then 1 1/2 - 2 lbs powdered sugar, depending on the consistancy you like.