Red Velvet Cake

I have a confession, red velvet cake is one of my guilty pleasures. Even though it has become less popular, I do believe it is a classic and important for any baker's repertoire. This recipe came from cupcake Jemma and makes two 20 cm sandwich cakes or 24 cupcakes.

Red Velvet Recipe

Ingredients

• 235 g self raising flour

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

• 250 g caster sugar

• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 270 g unsalted butter

• 4 large eggs

• 3 tbsp buttermilk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp red food colouring gel

• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Cream Cheese Icing

• 150 g unsalted butter

• 240 g cream cheese

• 840 g icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 C and cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Next add in the eggs, one at a time until well combined. Add in the cocoa powder and self raising flour and beat until all ingredients are incorporated. Now mix the buttermilk and vanilla extract and pour slowly into the mixture.

Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the cider vinegar in a small bowl. It will fizz up because the two ingredients cause a chemical reaction. This reaction will lift the cake and make it light and airy.

Add the bicarbonate od soda and cider vinegar into the cake mixture followed by the red food colouring gel. It is important to use gel because in order to get a vibrant red it would take a lot of liquid food colouring (as it is not as concentrated as the gel) which would change the consistency of the cake.

Line two 20 cm sandwich tins with grease proof paper and pour the batter into each tin, making sure both have roughly the same amount. Level the tops with an offset spatula and set in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean).

Once the cakes are ready leave them to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then carefully remove the cakes and set on a baking tray to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the cream cheese icing by beating the butter until pale in colour (this will take about 5 -7 minutes). Next add in the cram cheese and mix until well combined. Add the icing sugar in two batches beating on slow at first and then gradually increasing the speed. This icing is also good for carrot cake.

Once the cakes have cooled completely, it is time for decorating! I started by leveling my cake (I used the leveled off piece and broke it into little crumbs which I set aside and used to decorate the top of the cake.) Then I put a little bit of icing and spread some onto the plate (to avoid slippage) and set the bottom layer of cake on top. Next I took a spoonful of icing and spread it thinly across the layer and put the other cake on top. I then went on to cover the entire cake in a thin layer of icing in order to lock in all the crumbs. The cake was then set in the fridge to firm up and once it was firm I covered the cake in the remaining icing and used a cake leveler to smooth out the edges. Then to garnish I used some cake crumbs and wafer flowers that I got from the supermarket. And it was as easy as that. Red velvet cake may be going out of fashion but it will always taste good!