{Happy Valentine's Day} Red Velvet Tower

Happy Valentine's day to all of you out there! My third and last post of this year's Valentine's series is a red velvet tower. This red velvet cake is extra chocolatey with a whole half cup of cocoa powder. That's exactly what you need on Valentine's Day: something red and chocolatey and delicious!

I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but this cake would also go really well with the marshmallow buttercream I used in these macarons. I got two sheet cakes and one 20cm round cake, which two of the cutest kids I know helped me to decorate.

Remember Valentine's Day is a day of Love: whether it be love for your partner, friend, yourself, or a good cake :)


Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Red Velvet Cake
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups conola oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
6 tbsp red food colouring
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter and line either sheet pans or round tins.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder and salt together in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well combined.
4. With your mixer on low speed, slowly add food colouring followed by the vanilla.
5. Mix in the flour and buttermilk alternately in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
6. In a small bowl, mix together baking soda and vinegar. Add this mixture to the batter and mix until combined.
7. For sheet cakes to make a tower, pour batter about 1cm deep in the pan. If making round cakes, divide evenly between three 20cm cake tins.
8. Bake sheet cake for 10-15 minutes, round cakes will take 35-40 minutes. Don't rely on the timer, keep an eye on the cakes.
9. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Icing

226g cream cheese (room temperature)

113g unsalted butter (room temperature)

3 cups icing sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the sugar, followed by the vanilla. Mix until well combined.

Assembly

Heart-shaped cookie cutter

Red velvet sheet cake

Cream cheese icing

1. Use a bread knife to level off the top of the sheet cake.
2. Cut out hearts from the sheet cake using the cookie cutter.
3. Place one heart on a plate, top this with icing and continue layering until you are happy with the height.