BEST RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE

A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few simple steps are followed. This has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from top end fine bakeries. And topped with plenty – PLENTY – of cream cheese frosting!

There is something so elegant about a red velvet cake. Maybe it’s the name or that beautiful, bold red color. Or maybe it’s the delicate crumb and lightly chocolatey sweet taste mellow with a tad bit of tang from the buttermilk. I’ve been getting a lot of requests for red velvet cake. Smooth, chocolatey sponge smothered with rich buttercream icing, it takes a lot to beat the beautiful indulgence of red velvet cake. Adding a bit of coffee to the batter isn’t “traditional” for red velvet cakes but it adds another layer of flavor and really hypes up the chocolatey taste to perfection. Not to mention the extra liquid makes this cake do doggone soft so don’t skip it! Oh and don’t worry, you can’t taste the coffee.

Ingredients

For the cake

512 gr OR 4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
20 grams OR 4 tbsp cocoa powder
400 gr OR 4 cups sugar
218 ml OR 1 cup vegetable oil
230 gr OR 1 cup butter
4 eggs
480 ml OR 2 cups buttermilk
4 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp of red food colouring, depends how deep you want the colour
2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 cup plain hot coffee, prepared

For the Icing
400 gr of Cream Cheese
113g OR 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
500 gr OR 4 cups icing sugar / confectioner's sugar sifted

Directions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 160 C / 325 F.
Step 2: Generously grease and then add cocoa powder to four 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside. I only had 2 pans, so I had to bake it twice.
Step 3 : In medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
Step 4 : In a stand mixer, combine the sugar and vegetable oil. Then add softened butter. Mix well, and then add the eggs one at a time, add buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
Stir in the coffee and white vinegar. The batter will be thin.
Step 5 : Pour the batter evenly into each pan.
Step 6 : Bake in the middle rack for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools. Let pans cool on a cooling rack until the pans are warm to the touch.
Step 7 : Slide a knife or offset spatula around the inside of the pans to loosen the cake from the pan.Gently remove the cakes from the pan and let them finish cooling. (The warm cake will be very delicate)
Step 8 : Make your 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.
Step 9 : Frost the cake with cream cheese frosting when the cakes have cooled completely. There should be enough frosting to cover each layer and around. Leave in a fridge to set and then decorate as you wish. Leave for few hours in a fridge before eating.