Red Velvet Cake

Since I started making cakes regularly, I've really struggled to find a recipe that works for all occasions. I have used a basic Madeira recipe but for some reason (most probably my dodgy oven), its never the same twice.

I have a fabulous chocolate cake recipe by Jane Hornby, for wedding cakes but it has something like 10 eggs in it, so its not really practical for smaller or less expensive cakes.

So? Red Velvet Cake, I think its the one! for a round covered cake its perfect. Its by Lorraine Pascale, from her Baking Made Easy series on BBC. God she makes it look easy, and actually it is!



The Cake
I love the idea of a red cake. Usually when I think of sponge, I get a picture in my head of a victoria sponge. Tasty but not really exciting. I love that when this cake is cut the reaction is "oh my god, its red" :-)

I had seen some recipes on US websites but I usually get put off by trying to figure out the whole cups of this and that. Its a very straightforward recipe and last nights result looked perfect (we'll see tomorrow when its cut for a birthday!).

In the show Lorraine sprays her oven with water, I used an oven tray of steaming water in the bottom  (a tip I found here), and being a fan oven that throws more strops than any diva, I erred on the side of caution and turned down the heat. 

The Icing
Not being a fan of buttercream icing in general, I love the cream cheese frosting, as the cheese cuts the sweetness somewhat, and the sponge is quite light but still sturdy enough to cover with sugarpaste. The recipe is just vanilla buttercream, but for last nights version I added some lemon juice and zest. It just makes it better.

As the best in the business say...here's one I made earlier :-)