Red Velvet Fireworks Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl, sift cake flour with baking soda.
• Mash the vegetable shortening with 1 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl until thoroughly combined, and stir in the eggs, one at a time. Pour the red food coloring into a small bowl, and fill the empty food coloring container with water; add the water to the food coloring. Stir in cocoa powder to make a paste, and mix the paste into the shortening mixture.
• Stir the buttermilk, salt, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar in a bowl, and mix into the colored shortening mixture, alternating with the flour mixture, until well combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
• To make frosting, whisk together the milk and all-purpose flour in a saucepan until the mixture is free of lumps, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick, about 1 minute. Pour the thickened sauce into a mixing bowl, and chill until completely cooled, at least 30 minutes. When cold, place the butter into the mixture, and beat with an electric mixer to combine; add the vanilla extract and 2 cups of sugar to the bowl, and beat with the mixer set on Medium speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour three 9 by 1 1/2-inch round cake pans.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
• Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.
• Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.
• Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the Cream Cheese Frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.
• In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

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.