Red Velvet Cake
This decadent and delightful chocolate beetroot cake is a show-stopping dessert that is sure to impress your family and friends. Rich chocolate sponge layers are beautifully complemented by a creamy and tangy cheese icing, creating a perfect balance of flavors. The vibrant red color of the cake adds a fun and festive touch, making it a perfect treat for special occasions. With simple yet detailed instructions, you can confidently create this stunning cake that is both delicious and visually appealing.
— Constant Cookbook
Ingredients
- few sweets to decorate, we used jelly hearts from a sweet shop (optional)
- 250g butter , plus extra for greasing
- 200g dark chocolate , broken into chunks
- 500g plain flour
- 500g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 200g natural yogurt
- 400g cooked beetroot in natural juices (not vinegar)
- 4 tbsp or 2 x 28ml bottle red food colouring (optional- a natural liquid colouring will not work; we used Scarlett Langdale)
- 200g full-fat soft cheese , at room temperature
- 250g butter , softened
- 400g icing sugar , sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and line the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment – if your cake tins are quite shallow, line the sides to a depth of at least 5cm.
- Put half each of the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well. If there are any lumps in the sugar, squeeze these through your fingers to break them up.
- Mix half each of the buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, food colouring and 100ml water in a jug. Add 2 eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until well combined. The cake mixture should be bright red, it will get a little darker as it cooks. If it’s not as vivid as you’d like, add a touch more colouring. Pour the cake mixture evenly into the two tins, and bake for 25-30 mins, or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the baking parchment and leave to cool.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the remaining ingredients, so you have four sponge cakes in total. Can be made up to three days ahead and will stay moist if wrapped in cling film, or you can wrap well and freeze for up to two months.
- To make the icing, put the butter in a large bowl and sieve in half the icing sugar. Roughly mash together with a spatula, then whizz with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the soft cheese and vanilla, sieve in the remaining icing sugar, mash together again, then blend once more with the hand mixer.
- To assemble the cake, stick one of the sponges to a cake stand or board with a little of the soft cheese icing. Use roughly half the icing to stack the remaining cakes on top, spreading a generous amount between each layer. Pile the remaining icing on top of the assembled cake, and use a palette knife to ease it over the edges, covering the entire surface of the cake. Tidy the plate with a piece of kitchen paper. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days, but bring back to room temperature for an hour or so before eating. This recipe was refreshed in July 2018 based on user feedback. For the original recipe, see our beetroot cake.
Prep Time
PT30M
Yield
Serves 12
Nutrition
- Calories: 656 calories
- Fat Content: 31 grams fat
- Saturated Fat Content: 11 grams saturated fat
- Carbohydrate Content: 86 grams carbohydrates
- Sugar Content: 66 grams sugar
- Fiber Content: 1 grams fiber
- Protein Content: 6 grams protein
- Sodium Content: 1.5 milligram of sodium
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