I remember when I first tried this cake. It really messed with my mind. The blood red colour makes my mind say "beetroot????" whilst if I close my eyes and eat it, it's simply a deliciously light chocolate cake.
And that's what it basically is! Apparently the reaction between the vinegar and buttermilk causes something in the cocoa powder to turn red, but the colour is normally enhanced with beetroot or red food colouring (which I use). It'd be interesting to see what effect beetroot would have on it.
RED VELVET CAKE
Into a bowl combine 250g plain flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
I find the type of cocoa you use affects the colour - I go for a premium Dutch cocoa which tends to be a dark brown, resulting in a deeper red in the cake.
Beat together 100g soft butter with 200g caster sugar.
Add 2 eggs, one at a time followed by a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Add 2 tablespoons of red food colouring (I use Queen's Pillar box Red)
Careful not to stain your clothes!
Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 175ml buttermilk.
Alternate the addition of dry ingredients with the buttermilk.
Bake at 160C for 40 minutes or so (whenever a skewer comes out clean)
You can make one cake or many cupcakes with this batter.
I made 2 small cakes to layer together.
Cream Cheese Icing
I use this easy-peasy icing for many cakes and have even used it to sandwich macarons together.
Beat together a whole bag of CSR Pure Icing Sugar with 1/2 a block of Philly cream cheese and 100g soft butter.
Add a squeeze of lemon.
Place in a piping bag if making cupcakes or just spread with a spatula onto your cakes.
You can decorate it with sprinkles and the like, but I put my Halloween cookies on top with crushed Arnott's Chocolate Ripple cookies for "dirt".
I originally wanted to make cookie tombstones for a graveyard cake, but my Halloween cookie cutters are just too cute!
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