Red Velvet Cake

Who doesn't love a good bake sale eh? Any excuse for a piece of cake is fine by me.

As our office is celebrating Chinese New Year this week we decided to hold a charity bake sale to kick off the festivities.

In Chinese culture the colour red is supposed to symbolise luck so what better cake to make than a Red Velvet cake. In all honesty I have been looking for an excuse to bake one of these for while now.

I have added an easy how to guide below in-case this post inspires any of you to give it a try.

Firstly you will need the following ingredients:

For the cake

2 x Large Eggs

120g unsalted butter

300g white  caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring gel

1tsp vanilla extract

300g plain white flour

1 tsp salt

240ml Buttermilk

1 tsp bicarb of soda

For the cream cheese topping

100g unsalted butter

6600g icing sugar

250g cream cheese full fat

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.

Step 2

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl either with a spoon or electric mixer until the ingredients are light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and continue to mix until all the eggs are part of the mixture.

Step 3

Sieve the cocoa powder into the mix and add in the vanilla extract

Step 4

Sieve the flour into another bowl and add in the salt. Gradually add half the flour to the chocolate mixture and the add in half the buttermilk. Mix well and then add the other half of the flour and the last of the buttermilk.

Step 5

Add two tablespoons of red food colouring gel making sure it is mixed in well. I would buy two of the tubes you can find in the supermarkets as one if not enough.

Step 6

In a small mug combine the white wine vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda, then add to the mixture, stirring until combined.

Step 7

Split the mixture between the two lined sandwich tins and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Your cake is ready as soon as a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Step 8

For the icing, place the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar in a food mixer and beat until smooth (or do by hand, beating quickly until thick and smooth). Cover one layer of the cake with icing, then sandwich the two pieces of cake together. Cover the top and sides of the cake with icing then grate dark chocolate over the top for the final touch.

For the finishing touch I added my Chinese Dragon topper from Tesco.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.

Thanks for reading, back soon.
Nic x