Red Velvet Cake

This is yet another birthday cake for my mum.  She had a birthday lunch with her friends so I agreed to make the cake for them. She had a store bought red velvet cake for one of her birthday dinners (there have been many birthday celebrations!) and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd make her one myself.  My family thought it was much better than the store bought one... well I suppose they would say that as they are family! I have to admit it tasted really good. The cake was nice and moist and I really love the colour of the cake. I wanted to try some different frosting methods but they didn't quite turn out as expected. I tried using my mum's piping syringe with attachments which was difficult to control compared to a piping bag.  Oh well practice makes perfect, right? Plus the icing got quite runny as I had to re-do the piping a few times and didn't have time to firm it up in the fridge as I was running late! The final result is quite plain and simple but at least the taste spoke for itself.
Incidentally this is also my 100th post so it's fitting that it's a birthday red velvet cake :)
PS apologies for the quality of photos, most were taken from my phone.

 fresh from the oven, I was a little worried it was not red enough but it looks better in reality.  

 

 First attempt at frosting borders. Didn't quite turn out so I scraped it all off ...

 ...and ended up with this! 

 tried to make lines on the side of the cake with a new cake tool I have but I obviously need more practice! I do like the borders on the edges.

 

 the photo doesn't do it justice but it was a beautiful red colour 

For the cake 

120g unsalted butter, room temperature

300g caster sugar

2 eggs

20g cocoa powder

40mls red food colouring (I used 30mls and it turned out beautifully red)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

240ml buttermilk (You can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)

300g plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting

600g icing sugar, sifted

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

250g cream cheese cold

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add the eggs and beat well.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste.
• Add to the butter mixture and mix well.
• Slowly pour in half the buttermilk, then add half the flour and beat until everything is well incorporated.
• Repeat until all the flour and buttermilk have been added.
• Add salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.
• Beat until well mixed.
• Pour mixture into prepared cake tins and bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.
• Leave to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat together the icing sugar and butter and then add the cream cheese in one go and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Be careful not to overbeat as it can become runny.