Time 2h25m Yield 12 Number Of Ingredients 16 Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round pans. Beat shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar until very light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Make a paste of cocoa and red food coloring; add to creamed mixture. Mix salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and buttermilk together. Add the flour to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Mix soda and vinegar and gently fold into cake batter. Don’t beat or stir the batter after this point. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes completely on wire rack. To Make Icing: Cook 5 tablespoons flour and milk over low heat till thick, stirring constantly. Let cool completely! While mixture is cooling, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until light and fluffy. Add cooled flour mixture and beat until frosting is a good spreading consistency. Frost cake layers when completely cool.
Time 3h25m Yield 16 Number Of Ingredients 17 Steps:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C). Line the bottoms of three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Spray the sides with cooking spray. Sift all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Microwave buttermilk just until warm, about 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla extract. Beat brown sugar and butter together in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before each addition. Blend in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 additions until fully combined. Let mixer run on low for 5 minutes. Distribute the cake batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center the cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pans. Turn cakes out and let cool completely on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, milk, flour, and salt together in a medium saucepan for the frosting. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to simmer, about 10 minutes. Pour into a medium bowl and chill for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Beat butter until smooth, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the milk and flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, beating in between each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Mix in the vanilla extract. Level the cake layers before assembling the cake. Scoop about 2/3 cup of frosting onto the first layer and spread into an even layer. Repeat with the second and third cake layers. Frost the outsides of the cake with thin layer of frosting to catch any crumbs and chill for 20 minutes. Finish frosting the cake with remaining frosting. Cut and serve.
Time 4h Yield 10 servings Number Of Ingredients 17 Steps:
For the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds and lightly coat the paper with nonstick spray. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla in a second medium bowl. Beat the granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using an electric hand mixer) on medium-high speed until very light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer still running, slowly add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Reduce the speed to low. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients; mix until smooth. Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are slightly puffed, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centers, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto the rack to cool completely. For the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer) until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. To assemble the cake: Place one cake, domed-side down, on a platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the frosting evenly over the top. Place the remaining cake, domed-side up, on top. Spread the top with 1 1/2 cups of the frosting. Frost the sides of the cake with another 1 1/2 cups frosting and smooth out completely to make an even crumb coat. (It’s ok if some of the cake shows through. This is just a base layer.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the frosting set. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Time 2h Yield two 9-inch layer cakes Number Of Ingredients 13 Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl until smooth; let cool. Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the oil, sugar, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar in a large bowl. Whisk in the cocoa mixture until smooth, then whisk in the flour mixture. Divide the batter between the pans. Bake the cakes until the centers spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 15 minutes in the pans. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out the cakes onto the rack; remove the parchment and let cool completely.
Yield 12 Number Of Ingredients 14 Steps:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix food coloring with cocoa and add to mixture. Add flour alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla and salt. Mix baking soda with vinegar, and gently stir into mixture. Be careful not to over mix. Divide batter into three prepared 8 inch round pans. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Allow to cool. To make the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing: Melt the white chocolate 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 fill and frost the cake.
Yield 12 Number Of Ingredients 14 Steps:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix food coloring with cocoa and add to mixture. Add flour alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla and salt. Mix baking soda with vinegar, and gently stir into mixture. Be careful not to over mix. Divide batter into three prepared 8 inch round pans. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Allow to cool. To make the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing: Melt the white chocolate 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 fill and frost the cake.
Time 2h Yield 12 Number Of Ingredients 15 Steps:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms and sides of 3 (8- or 9-inch) round pans with shortening; lightly flour. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. In medium saucepan, mix 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 cups milk with whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat until mixture is very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and the butter with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour mixture by tablespoonfuls; beat on high speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Fill and frost cake, using 1 cup frosting between layers. Store covered in refrigerator.
Time 2h5m Number Of Ingredients 15 Steps:
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.
