I have a confession to make – prior to making this recipe I had never made or, indeed, even eaten a Red Velvet Cake. I know, I know. I must admit the whole craze seemed to pass me by during the phase where between 2013 and 2015 you could get practically everything in Red Velvet form. Maybe I didn’t quite see what the fuss was about as Red Velvet is pretty much just a chocolate cake that has been dyed red. But that was a little shortsighted of me as there’s a couple of things that make the Red Velvet such a great cake – the fact that it uses butter, buttermilk and oil makes for a very rich, but delicate and moist, cake and the cream cheese frosting is super addictive. I had trouble not eating it all as I was making it! So if you, like me, haven’t joined the Red Velvet bandwagon yet, then why not start by trying this recipe?
Red Velvet Cake
Print RecipeIngredients
- For the cake:
- 450g Extra-Fine Sponge Flour
- 50g Cocoa Powder
- 1tsp Baking Powder
- 125g Unsalted Butter, softened
- 350g Caster Sugar
- 3 x Large Eggs
- 250ml Vegetable or Sunflower Oil
- 250ml Buttermilk
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- 25ml Coffee
- 1tps White Wine or Cider Vinegar
- 3tbsp Red Food Colouring (Gel, not liquid)
- For the icing:
- 250g Full-Fat Cream Cheese
- 125g Unsalted Butter, softened
- 2tsp Vanilla Extract
- 450g Icing Sugar
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and grease two 9" round cake tins with butter and line with greaseproof paper on the bottoms.
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large bowl and set to one side.
In another bowl, beat together the butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer or a wooden spoon and a lot of elbow grease!
Add the eggs in to the butter and sugar, one at a time, mixing in along with a tablespoon of the flour to help prevent curdling and beat until smooth.
Now add in the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, coffee and beat in until everything is well combined.
Next, add in the dry ingredients to the wet and fold in gently, preferably using a spatula, until everything is just combined. You don't want to overmix.
Lastly, add the red food colouring to the mixture and combine well so that the batter is a lovely, vibrant red. Try to make sure there aren't any streaks in it!
Divide the batter between the two cake tins and place into the oven to bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until you can poke the cake with a skewer or a toothpick and it comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the cake tins for 10 minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, add the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat together well for a good 3-4 minutes until it goes from yellow to closer to white.
Now add in the icing sugar and beat in until the frosting becomes light and fluffy. If it feels too runny to you, then you can add in more icing sugar.
Once the cakes are completely cool, cut a little bit of the top off of one of the cakes to level it out. Then spread a layer of the frosting onto one of the cakes and then gently lay the other cake on top and press down slightly.
Use the rest of the frosting to coat the cake completely so that it's lovely and smooth.
Using a knife, chop the offcuts from the cake into a very fine crumb and use to decorate the cake how you see fit.
Serve and enjoy!
