This is such an easy cake to make and the recipe produces quite a large cake – easily cuts into 12-15 slices or makes 18-20 cupcakes.. The cake itself is moist and fluffy. Feel free to scoop into cupcake cases as this translates beautifully into cupcakes. And of course there is the delicious cream cheese icing that goes on top. Most red velvet cakes require buttermilk and I never seem to have buttermilk when I need it. I simply take a cup of milk and add a TB of vinegar or lemon juice and leave it to thicken. (takes about 2-3 minutes) I bake this cake in 3 X 20cm round tins but you can easily use 2 deep 20 cm round/square tins. Or use 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Ingredients for cake
- 125g butter at room temperature
- 300g sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 300g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 240ml buttermilk (240ml full cream milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice – allow to thicken)
- 2 heaped tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- 1 tablespoon red gel food colouring.
- 1 TB white wine vinegar.
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Ingredients for cream cheese frosting
- 200g full-fat cream cheese at room temperature (don’t use low fat or medium fat cream cheese – it will be too runny)
- 200g butter
- 3 cups of icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Method to make cake
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Grease and line the base of baking pans.
- Measure out flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Sift in cocoa.
- In another bowl beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (about 3 minutes)
- Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
- Scrape down sides of the bowl.
- Add vanilla
- Add the flour/cocoa mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture in alternating turns. Always start with and end with the dry ingredients. Do this in 3 rounds and mix after each round. Flour, buttermilk, mix…..repeat 2 times. Blend all ingredients well. Add red food colour to mixture. Blend so that the batter takes on a lovely, rich colour.
- In a small bowl add the 1 tsp of baking soda and the TB of white vinegar. This mixture will fizz. Add to red cake mixture and use a mixing spoon/spatula to combine everything.
- Divide batter into tins.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cakes will be well risen, springy to the touch and coming away from the sides of the pan. Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, then the cake is fully baked.
- If you are turning the mixture into cupcakes, you will need 2 12-hole muffin pans. Baking time will be about 15-20 minutes.
- Once cakes are done, remove and leave to cool.
Cream cheese frosting
A softer icing which may not lend itself well to elaborate piping decorations. Can be temperamental in hot weather. Add more icing sugar if icing is too runny. If you keep adding icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time, the icing will thicken and make it possible to pipe more elaborate decorations.
- Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until white and fluffy as possible.
- Add vanilla and salt.
- Add icing sugar in 2 batches.
- Beat well until fluffy and creamy.if your icing is too soft for you to handle, add icing sugar.
Assemble cakes
- Sandwich layers of cake with frosting. Or use a large star nozzle and pipe rosettes in between cake layers.
- Top final layer with frosting.
- Cupcakes can be decorated with swirls of icing using a large star nozzle.
- If you don’t have nozzles around, simple use a spatula and spread generous portions of icing.
