Valentine’s Day Red Velvet Cake

We all know that the way to the heart of the one you love is through their stomach and so I’ve decided to include a recipe for Red Velvet Cake as a way of celebrating Valentine’s Day for all of you love birds out there!! 🙂

I asked a friend at work for this recipe as he has made it many times and is so good to bring it in to the office to share.  You could definitely say it is well ‘tried and tested’.  I have also made a few little tweaks of my own to the original recipe!!!

Ingredients:
1½ Cups of Caster Sugar
½ Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs
Red Food Colouring – 1 small bottle available from your local supermarket or baking supplies shop (reserve a couple of drops for the icing)
1 Tablspn Cocoa Powder
2½ Cups Plain Flour
2 Teasps White Wine Vinegar
1 Teasp Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
250g Butter, Very Soft
350g Icing Sugar
450g Full Fat Cream Cheese
1 Teasp Vanilla Extract
A couple of drops of Red Food Colouring (optional – this will give the icing a nice pink tint)

Chocolate Lace Hearts:

Melt 100g of good quality Plain Chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Using a heart shaped cutter (or freehand) draw out 4 – 6 heart shapes on on a sheet of parchment/baking paper.  Make a paper cone out of some more parchment paper.  Spoon the melted chocolate into the cone and close over the top by folding the excess paper above the level of the chocolate.  Snip off the tip with a scissors and then drizzle the chocolate onto the drawn hearts first starting with following the outline and then filling the inside in a lace random pattern.  Leave to set

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC, Fan 160ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4
2. Grease and base line 2 x 8 inch cake tins
3. Mix the sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, food colouring and cocoa powder in a food mixer
4. Sieve in the flour and beat again
5. Combine the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda together and add in to the batter until well distributed
6. Divide the mixture equally between the 2 tins and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
7. Leave to cool on a rack

To make the frosting:

In a large mixing bowl on your mixer, beat the butter until smooth then add in the cream cheese and beat again until well combined.  With the mixer on low, gradually pour in the icing sugar then add in the couple of drops of colouring (if using) and the vanilla extract.  Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Place in the fridge to firm up slightly

If you notice little specks of red in the frosting, they are crumbs which I gathered when cutting the sponges into layers and which I just mixed through it before spreading.  You could also use freeze dried raspberry crumbs if you had them or just leave it plain!

To Assemble:

Split each sponge in half horizontally (this will give 4 layers in the cake – this step is not necessary as you can also leave them as just 2 layers).  Spread a thin layer of the frosting between each layer and sandwich together.  Use the remaining frosting to cover the entire cake reserving some for a piping bag.  When the entire cake is covered then pipe little rosettes of icing at intervals around the top and stick the chocolate hearts into the rosettes at an angle

You could of course decorate your cake using chocolate truffles, hearts made using fondant icing or whatever takes your fancy!

 

Enjoy

Happy Valentines Day,

Bernie xx