Slice of Love

It’s a little bit hard to believe that we are already done with the second week of the year. January is usually off-season for majority of us Baker’s here in Nairobi but thank God I have been busy with orders and wedding meetings as it’s quite easy to lose your mind when idle.

I have also been experimenting with recipes as Valentine’s Day will be upon us before we know it and the perfect cakes have to be ready. Red and Valentine’s Day always go hand in hand so it makes perfect sense to start preparations with this beautiful red velvet cake.

It has just the perfect amount of Pradip cocoa powder to make it almost chocolatey (also a plus for Valentine’s Day) and a hint of Pradip vanilla to give it a kind and wonderful aroma, just the right amount of Pradip corn flour and some vinegar to make the cake light and airy and the Pradip Red food colour that gives it a good shade of red.

As much as the cocoa powder gives the cake more of a burgundy shade as opposed to a bright red colour, it is quite good for the end result. The cake tastes much lovelier and as some of the Baker’s around unfortunately do, do not omit the cocoa. The cocoa powder gives it the velvety texture and makes it more than wonderful.

I made this cake in three layers and filled it with whipped cream, then topped with strawberries. You can however fill it with whichever cream tickles your fancy but I can guarantee you that this cake is still very lovely on its own. Your loved one will be quite excited to have this on Valentine’s Day.

Ingredients (makes 1kg/8 inch cake or 24 cupcakes)

• 250g margarine
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon Pradip Vanilla essence
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Pradip Corn Flour
• 1/4 cup Pradip Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1&1/2 teaspoon Pradip baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Pradip Powder Red food colour

Method

Preheat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius

Grease and dust your baking tin(s)

In one bowl, sift together the baking powder, red food colour, bicarbonate, cocoa, corn flour and all-purpose flour. (refer to this for the importance of sifting them together).

In a second bowl, soften your margarine with your mixer or spatula. Add the sugar and mix until well incorporated.

Add your eggs one at a time to the margarine mixture, until incorporated.

Add the Vanilla Essence, then the vinegar.

Slowly add your flour mix and buttermilk into the margarine and eggs mix. This should be done alternating so as to incorporate air into the batter and make your cake lighter as opposed to dense. Starting and ending with flour.

Once everything is well incorporated, pour the batter into your prepared baking tin and bake the 50 minutes. If using 2 tins, bake for at 30-35 minutes or until knife test shows its ready.

Let the cake cool for at least 3hrs before icing it.

Enjoy it.