Red velvet cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

175 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing 450 g caster sugar 3 eggs, at room temperature 3 tbsp cocoa powder 38 ml Dr Oetker natural red food colouring, or 1 eaped tsp !ugarflair red extra colouring 1 tsp "anilla extract 500 g plain flour 340 ml buttermilk 1# tsp bicarbonate of soda 1# tsp cider "inegar

For the frosting:

1$5 g unsalted butter, at room temperature 175 g cream c eese 500 g icing sugar

Tips and suggestions % e cake will keep in an airtig t container for around 4 da&s' (t)s reall& important to use t e rig t red food colouring* eit er !ugarflair +ed ,xtra paste or Dr Oetker -atural +ed' Don)t get t e standard red colouring, as t e cake will turn brown w en &ou bake it' Method 1' For the cake: .re eat t e o"en to 180/0110/ fan0gas 4 and grease and line $x$0cm cake tins' $' 2eat t e butter for a minute or so, until lig t and fluff&' 3dd t e sugar and beat until incorporated' !crape down t e bowl to ensure all t e ingredients are combined' 2eat in t e eggs, one at a time t en beat in t e cocoa, food colouring and "anilla extract' 3' !ift t e flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a bowl, t en add to t e butter mixture in t ree stages, alternating wit t e buttermilk and scraping down after eac addition' .ut t e bicarbonate of soda and cider "inegar in a small bowl and w isk until it bubbles up' 3dd t is to t e cake batter and gi"e it one last 4uick beat' % e addition of t e "inegar and bicarbonate will make t e colour of t e cake de"elop and sta& red w en cooked' !poon t e mixture into t e tins and le"el t e top of t e batter'

4' 2ake for 45 minutes to 1 our' 3fter 30 minutes, co"er t e top of t e cake wit foil to pre"ent it from browning too muc ' %est t e cake after 45 minutes5 w en it is cooked, a knife or skewer inserted in t e centre will come out clean' +emo"e t e foil and lea"e to cool on a wire rack for around 30 minutes' +emo"e from t e tin and lea"e until completel& cool before decorating' 5' For the frosting: 2eat t e butter until softened, t en add t e soft c eese and beat for a few seconds to combine' !crape down t e bowl to make sure e"er&t ing is mixed, t en add t e icing sugar and beat again' % e longer &ou beat, t e creamier t e icing will be' !et aside at room temperature until &ou)re read& to use it' (f it)s a warm da&, put it in t e fridge but take it out 10 minutes before &ou want to use it' 1' %o decorate t e cakes, &ou first need to le"el t em' 6se a bread knife to slice a small section off t e top and make it as flat as possible' 7eep t e sliced8off section to decorate t e cake later' 7' -ext &ou a"e to cut eac cake in alf ori9ontall&5 again, use a bread knife' -ow &ou a"e four la&ers of cake' .ut t e bottom la&er of cake on &our cake plate' !pread wit t e icing, making sure it)s not too t ick5 about 1cm is perfect' +epeat wit all t e la&ers' 8' -ext, co"er t e outside of t e cake wit icing using a palette knife or a butter knife' :inall&, crumble t e reser"ed sliced8off sections of cake, and scatter t e crumbs all o"er t e top of it' ttp*00ukt"'co'uk0food0recipe0aid0157507