Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you go via these links to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I have linked these products because I have tried and would thoroughly recommend them, not because of any commission I may receive. Whether you act on this recommendation or not is completely up to you. Check out my Disclaimer for more information.
It’s Red Nose Day here in the UK, which is usually a day where people host bake sales up and down the country to raise money for people living incredibly tough lives (you can find out more about Red Nose Day here). Although we won’t be having a bake sale this year, my university’s baking society has challenged its members to bake something red in spirit or red nose day, so I decided to make this red velvet cake.
My interpretation of a red velvet cake is sandwiched and covered with a lighter cream cheese icing and decorated with chocolate fingers and some Red Nose Day-inspired Maltesers! This red velvet cake recipe is really easy to follow, so check it out below and get inspired to bake for Red Nose Day!
Some tips for making this Red Velvet Cake
FOR THE RED VELVET SPONGE
This red velvet cake uses the creamed method, which you can read more about in my baking basics post here. It’s important to cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Then you need to add the eggs very gradually, beating well between each addition, to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Once that step is done, you only very briefly want to whisk in the remaining ingredients and avoid overmixing the batter.
Traditionally, this cake got its name from the reaction between the cocoa powder and the vinegar which creates a brownish-red colour. Nowadays, people obviously add some red food colouring to achieve a more vibrant red colour. In terms of food colouring, I used about 2 tsp of Wilton’s red food colouring. I am still a little disappointed with the colour of the end result, somehow, I can never get it the bright red colour that I want. Maybe I need to add more food colouring (but it’s so expensive…). I’m not sure if it’s the cocoa powder that makes it more brown that red… Let me know if you have any tips!
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
I love a good cream cheese frosting, and this one tastes lovely and light due to the addition of the quark (that’s me introducing a bit of German to my baking). Make sure your butter is at room temperature/soft and then cream it with the sugar for a good 5-10 minutes until the mixture is very pale. You should also sift the icing sugar to avoid any lumps in the frosting. The last step is easy, just whisk in the cream cheese and quark and you are good to go!
FOR THE DECORATION
To decorate, I stuck chocolate fingers all around the sides of the cake. Whilst you can of course use the classic milk chocolate Cadbury’s chocolate fingers, I actually found something even better! Bournville Dark Chocolate fingers – I am a dark chocolate gal, so they are a gift!
Finally, I also decorated some Maltesers with Red Nose Day-inspired faces, and used some icing pens to pipe a smiley face and big red nose onto my cake, too. I would recommend doing this just before you serve this red velvet cake, as otherwise it will bleed too much into the cream cheese frosting.
More recipes fit for a bake sale!
I have some more great recipes on this blog that would also be perfect for a Red Nose Day bake sale! Why not start by checking out some of the ones below?
- Easy Carrot Cake Traybake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream
- Easy No-Bake Rocky Road
- Mary Berry’s Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd
- Apple and Biscoff Traybake
- Classic Victoria Sponge Cake
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Mini Eggs
- The *BEST* Chocolate Brownies
- Mary Berry’s Chocolate and Beetroot Traybake
- Classic Millionaire’s Shortbread | British Baking Classic
- Fruit Scones with Orange Zest | British Baking Classic
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting | Red Nose Day 2021
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- 200g of butter, at room temperature
- 200g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 medium eggs, beaten
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 40g cocoa powder
- 50ml sunflower oil
- 250ml buttermilk
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tsp red gel food colouring (good quality, I used this one)
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 300g butter, softened
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 250 quark, at room temperature
TO DECORATE:
- 3 boxes of Cadbury’s Chocolate Fingers or Bournville Dark Chocolate Fingers
- A few Maltesers
- 2 tbsp icing sugar and a tiny bit of water
- Writing icing, red and black
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
Method:
- Lightly grease the 22cm round tin and line the base with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and set aside until needed. Then crack the eggs into a bowl, lightly whisk with a fork, then set those aside for later, too.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, caster sugar, salt and vanilla using an electric whisk (or a wooden spoon) for 5-10 minutes until fluffy and paler in colour. Then add the eggs, roughly one at a time, beating well between each addition. You may wish to add a tablespoon of the flour mix as you are doing so to prevent the mixture from curdling (more tips here).
- Once all the eggs have been whisked in, pour in the oil, buttermilk, vinegar and the remaining dry ingredients and briefly mix until just combined. Add in the red food colouring and whisk once again, adding a little more food colouring if necessary, until the cake batter is an intense red colour.
- Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, beat together the softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla for about 5-10 minutes until pale and creamy. Then gradually add in the cream cheese and quark and mix until completely smooth. Place in the fridge until needed.
- To assemble the cake, carefully cut the red velvet cake in half horizontally. Set the top part of the cake onto a serving plate, then spoon about a third of the cream cheese frosting on top. Use a small palette knife to spread it out in an even layer, then place the second sponge on top with the bottom facing up to create a level surface.
- Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting and smoothen with the palette knife. Decorate the sides of the cake with the chocolate fingers by gently pressing them into the icing. Chill the cake in the fridge until needed.
- The finishing decorative touches should be made just before serving the cake. To decorate the Maltesers with some Red Nose Day-inspired faces, mix together the icing sugar with a tiny bit of water to create a thick white icing. Spoon into a small piping or freezer bag and snip off a tiny corner. Use the white icing to create the whites of the eyes, then use the red and black icing to finish the faces. Decorate the top of the cake with the Maltesers and use the black and red icing to pipe a larger face on top if you wish.
