RED VELVET CAKE

• The classic, iconic Red Velvet Cake! The sponge is soft and velvety, true to it's name, with a buttery flavor, moist with a hint of chocolate, vanilla and tang from buttermilk.
• The essential elements of this recipe are: cake flour (Note 1), buttermilk (no substituting!), butter & buttermilk at room temperature.
• IMPORTANT: Please read Note 1 to find the applicable measure to use for the cake flour in this recipe, as well as substitutions.
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Butter 2 x 21cm / 8" round cake pans (sides and base) and dust with cocoa powder
• Sift the Dry Ingredients and whisk to combine in a bowl.
• Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beater or in stand mixer until smooth and well combined (use paddle attachment if using stand mixer).
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to combine.
• Add vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and red food coloring. Beat until combined (Note 5).
• Add Dry Ingredients. Beat until just combined - some small lumps is ok, that's better than over mixing.
• Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes on the same shelf, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Note 6)
• Rest for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Frosting

• Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes (this makes it really smooth and changes from yellow to almost white). Add icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy to your taste.

Frost Cake

• Cut the top off the cake using a serrated knife (to make the layers neat).
• Spread one cake with 1½ cups of frosting. Top with the other cake. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
• Optional: Crumble offcuts and use to decorate the top rim and base of the cake.

NOTE 1

• 1. Cake flour is lighter and has a lower protein content that all-purpose / plain flour. It produces cakes with a very soft crumble and minimal "bounciness", like what you get from posh bakeries.
• It is not readily available in all countries, though it can be found in Australia in supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths). But I have found different brands can = different weights. So wherever you are in the world, please measure this USING CUP MEASURES (which I know UK/Europe are not used to, but in this case is important). I have made this using American and "rest of world" cups (Aus/UK/EUR) and it comes out the same. But by weight, 2⅔ cups = 320g - 375g, depending on brand.
• SUBSTITUTION - If you can't find cake flour, substitute as follows: Measure out 2⅔ cups / 400 g plain (all purpose) flour into a bowl. Remove 5 tbsp / 60g plain flour, then add 5 tbsp / 60g of cornstarch / cornflour.
• CAN'T USE CAKE FLOUR? This recipe will work just fine if you make this with just all purpose / plain flour. The cake just won't be quite as tender. 🙂 Still delicious though!

NOTE 2

• Baking Soda is also called bi-carb soda. It works like baking powder but it is 3 times stronger. It needs acid to activate it (buttermilk in this recipe). It cannot be substituted with baking powder in this recipe.

NOTE 3

• Normal white sugar will also work just fine, it is just that caster sugar blends in easier, faster and better. 🙂

NOTE 4

• Buttermilk - for most baking recipes, buttermilk can be substituted with milk + lemon juice left to curdle. But for this recipe, it does not work as well so please use buttermilk!

NOTE 5

• Don't worry if it separates slightly because of the oil, it will come together when the flour is added.

NOTE 6

• This can be made in one cake pan (but 2 cake pans is better/easier). Just pour batter into one cake pan and bake for around 45 minutes in total, but you must cover with FOIL at around 30 minutes, otherwise the top may get too brown. Then cut cake in half.