Red Velvet

My all time favorite cake, Red Velvet. It's a red cake batter that has an amazing velvet like texture. I've not made it in nearly 9 years. The first time was my first birthday in England. I spent it alone and made a cake for myself to celebrate. This time I made it for a cake sale at work.

The one issue I had was finding white vinegar, I'd gone to Sainsburys (local grocery store) to find it and they only seemed to have balsamic which is great but not in a cake! I ended up buying something called White Condiment and crossed my fingers that it was what I wanted (it was, nothing else on the planet smells like vinegar!).

Red Velvet Cup Cakes


2½ cups plain flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup buttermilk (substitute 1 cup of milk mixed with 1tsp lemon juice, let stand for 10 minutes or until curdled)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350/180

Mix butter & sugar, add in eggs, vanilla and food coloring. Mix in coca powder, baking soda and vinegar. Alternately mix in flour and butter milk.

Pour into bun cases and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese (this should be one standard container of cream cheese, be careful otherwise you'll have too much - as I did)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

Mix all ingredients together in a high sided bowl, spread onto cooled cupcakes.