Red Velvet cake

A deep red sponge with a tangy cream cheese frosting. This is the cake we bake at the studio, scaled down for a home oven and one 8 inch tin. Twenty-five minutes to mix, 28 to 32 minutes in the oven, plus cooling and frosting. About two hours from start to first slice. If that reads like more than tonight's energy, we bake this cake to order in three sizes and you can order one from the studio instead.

TL;DR

• Makes one 8 inch round (about 12 slices) or two 6 inch rounds.
• Prep 25 minutes, bake 28 to 32 minutes, plus cooling and frosting.
• Cream cheese frosting recipe is below the sponge.
• Ingredients chosen to match what you can buy in Harare.

What makes Red Velvet different from a chocolate cake

The cocoa in a Red Velvet is small. One to two tablespoons, no more. The deep colour comes from food colouring (gel goes further than liquid), and the soft crumb comes from buttermilk reacting with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The frosting is cream cheese, not chocolate, and that tang against the sponge is the whole point of the cake.

It is not a heavy chocolate cake. If a heavier chocolate cake is what you are after, our Death by Chocolate recipe is the one to bake instead. Red Velvet sits closer to a vanilla sponge with a hint of cocoa and a frosting that does the work.

Ingredients

For the sponge (one 8 inch round, or two 6 inch rounds):

• 300g (about 2 and a half cups) plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 250g (1 and a quarter cups) caster sugar
• 250ml (1 cup) sunflower or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk (or 1 cup milk plus 1 tbsp white vinegar, left to stand 5 minutes)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp red food colouring (gel is stronger; if using liquid, add a touch more)

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 250g cream cheese, cold
• 125g salted butter, softened
• 400g (about 3 and a quarter cups) icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C. Grease and line an 8 inch round tin (or two 6 inch tins) with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and oil together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each.
4. In a jug, mix the buttermilk, vanilla, vinegar and food colouring until evenly red.
5. Add the dry ingredients and the wet jug to the sugar mix in three alternating additions, starting and ending with dry. Stir gently with a spatula. Do not over-mix, or the crumb will tighten.
6. Pour into the tin and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
7. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. A warm sponge will melt cream cheese frosting on contact.

Cream cheese frosting

1. Beat the cold cream cheese and softened butter together on medium for one minute, no more, until just combined. Over-beaten cream cheese splits and slides off the cake.
2. Add the sifted icing sugar in three additions, beating on low between each.
3. Add the vanilla. Use right away, or chill for 15 minutes if it feels too soft to pipe.

Notes from the studio

A few things we have learned baking this one.

• The vinegar is not optional. It reacts with the bicarbonate of soda and gives the sponge its lift. Skip it and the cake is dense.
• We use oil rather than butter in the sponge. Oil keeps the crumb soft for two days, which matters in Harare's dry air.
• Gel food colouring goes much further than liquid. Two teaspoons of gel will do the same job as two tablespoons of liquid. Beetroot juice works in a pinch but gives a muted, brick-red shade rather than the photograph red.
• Cold cream cheese plus softened butter is the rule. The other way around and the frosting will not hold.
• This recipe makes one 8 inch round. For a 10 inch, double the ingredients and bake in two tins, then layer.

Rather order one?

We bake this exact cake to order in three sizes (6 inch, 8 inch, 10 inch). One business day notice. Same crumb, same frosting, finished and boxed at the studio. Order on WhatsApp on +263 78 432 0632 with the size and the date, and we will confirm timing the night before.

For more recipes from the studio, see the recipes hub.