Red Velvet Cake!

 The last time I tried to make Red Velvet cake it turned out to be a little bit of a disaster. I'd preheated the oven, made the batter and lined the cases (I was doing cupcakes in this occasion). In my last flat the oven was pretty rubbish. It only seemed to get hot on one side so everything took far longer to cook than it should. Anyhow on this day, the oven had decided to die. I turned it off and on again, hoping to trick it into action. No luck. So I did the only thing I could do - I grilled 'em. 

My friend did take one and steam it, which was... interesting. He did do it again with sillicone cases that held the shape better but I'm going off track! So yeah, the grill. They came out okay and were edible but not how red velvet cake should taste. So now my oven is amazing, time for round two!

 

 Ingredients (makes one cake or 24 cupcakes)

120g unsalted butter at room temp

300g caster sugar

2 eggs

20g cocoa powder

40ml red food colouring

1 tsp vanilla extract

120ml buttermilk*

300g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp white wine vinegar

*If you can't find buttermilk (I don't think I've ever seen it!) then just add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white malted vinegar to the milk, stir and then leave for 5-10 minutes. It'll curdle due to the acidity but that's what you want so don't worry!

Note : When looking at my photo, I realised I only put one egg in my mix. The cake was still very moist though, so I doubt it did any real harm.

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

2. Beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and beat until everything is well incorporated.

3. In a seperate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food colouring to make a thrick dark paste. Add to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly until well combined.

4. Add in half the buttermilk. Beat well. Add in half the flour. Beat well. Repeat with the rest of the buttermilk and flour.

5. Add the salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Beat again until well combined.

6. Divide the mixture between two greased cake pans or sepearate into 24 paper cases. Bake for around 20-25 minutes for cupcakes and 35-40 minutes for the cake or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

7. Leave to cool in the pans slightly before turning out onto a wire cooling tray.

Mine had a little bit of a fight with the greaseproof paper!

The best frosting for this cake is Cream Cheese!

300g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter at room temp

125g cream cheese, cold

(makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes, double recipe for cake)

1.Beat together the icing sugar and butter (pref with an electric mixer) until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.

2. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy, around 5 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat though as frosting can become runny.

Recipes adapted from "The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook".