Recipe Roadtest: Red Velvet Cake

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

I suck at baking.  Sorry for my bad language but really there is no other way to describe my ineptitude.  However, I have discovered a new cake recipe that even baking dunces like myself can execute with reasonable success.  Here is my creation!

I'm so proud of it, it's like I gave birth to it.

The cake recipe is from Taste.  Since I am totally incapable of following instructions to the letter, I could not help but tweak a few things.  My recipe is below. 

Ingredients:

For cake:

• 180g softened butter
• 1.5 cups caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2.5 cups of sifted self raising flour
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbs of red food coloring
• fresh berries to decorate
• 1 tsp of white wine vinegar

For icing:

• 250g of cream cheese
• 60g of softened butter
• 1 cup of icing sugar
• zest of 1 lime
• juice of 1 lime

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins. 
2. Beat softened butter and caster sugar together with an electric beater until light and fluffy. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, flour, cocoa powder, buttermilk and vanilla.  Add this to the butter and sugar mixture batches at a time beating in between. 
4. Stir in bicarb, red food coloring and vinegar. 
5. Pour mixture evening between the two cake tins and bake for 25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre. 
6. Let cakes cool for a few minutes before inverting onto wire rack. 
7. Make the icing by combining all the icing ingredients
8. Once cake is cooled, use a quarter of the icing mixture to sandwich the two cakes together.  You can sandwich a few berries in there too.  The remainder and majority of the icing and berries go on top. 

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Nom Seeker, Glutt