Sponge
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 tbsp red gel food colouring (try not to use the liquid food colourings as they are not very strong but Dr Oetker is the best if you can't get hold of a gel / paste food colouring - Morrisons have started selling gel type colourings I noticed)
40g cocoa powder
250ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
350g caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting
250g unsalted butter, again at room temperature
500g icing sugar
400g full-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 170°C / 160°C fan / gas 3.
Lightly grease 3 x 20cm round cake tins, line the bases with baking parchment, then grease these too. Dust with flour and tap out any excess.
In a small bowl, mix together the boiling water, food colouring, cocoa powder and buttermilk until fully combined, and set aside.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until fully combined; mix in the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to low and add a third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat, then add the final third of flour mixture. Stir in the vinegar.
Divide equally between the cake tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.
For the frosting:
Use an electric mixer to beat the butter until light and smooth, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in the icing sugar until combined (I always put a clean tea towel over the bowl when doing this so that the icing dust doesn’t go everywhere), then increase the speed and beat until light and fluffy.
Beat in the cream cheese and the vanilla extract until just combined. DO NOT over-beat at this stage or it will be to thin.
To assemble, put a layer of cake on a serving plate. Spread a layer of frosting onto the top of the cake and put the second cake layer on top, then repeat. Put the final layer of cake on top and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle with a very light dusting of cocoa powder to finish or a bit of red edible glitter.
