Red Velvet Cake

 So i attempted to bake a red velvet cake for a friend over the weekend and this is how it turned out . I used a recipe that i got off the internet from http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/10766/print-friendly.aspxand it was a really good recipe easy to follow although i have a few lessons learnt to share , i will share these at the end :-) 

Ingredients

Serves: 12

• 250g butter, softened
• 3 cups (660g) white sugar
• 6 eggs
• 30ml red food coloring
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups (375g) plain flour
• 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• For the Icing
• 500g cream cheese
• 375g white chocolate
• 250g butter, softened

Preparation method

Prep: 20 minutes |Cook: 25 minutes

1.	Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease and flour three 20cm cake tins.
2.	In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix food coloring with cocoa and add to mixture.
3.	Add flour alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla and salt.
4.	Mix the bicarb with the vinegar, and gently stir into mixture. Be careful not to over mix.
5.	Divide batter into three prepared 20cm round tins. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.
6.	To make the white chocolate cream cheese icing: Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in melted white chocolate and softened butter. Beat until it is the consistency of whipped cream, then use to ice between the layers and on top of the cake.

 OK so this is what my cakes looked like before icing some of the lessons learn t include 

1. Sieve the coco powder and and flour together before mixing my mixture had lumps which took ages to try and get rid of after i put the coco powder straight in as the recipe says.
2. For me the oven at 170 degrees didn't work out so well so i used 180 just keep an eye on the progress of your cake and i cooked my cakes individually.
3. Go crazy with decorating the cake but don't add any extra flavors as it is a really complicated cake as it is .
4. I crumbled a bit of the cake and made the side effects you can see on the cake :-) looks really pretty  ..

This is how the cakes looked like before icing them

After layering and icing