Red Velvet Traybake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Cake

• 250g Plain White Flour (We use Allinson)
• 350g Caster Sugar (We like Silver Spoon)

  Silver Spoon Caster Sugar has finer granules which incorporates more air into your bakes which means it is perfect for adding volume to a mixture when baking and produces extra light cakes. This sugar is also homegrown using sugar beet.

• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 225g Unsalted Butter
• 250ml Water
• 25g Cocoa Powder
• 2 Large Eggs
• 120g Buttermilk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract (We like Nielsen Massey)

  Vanilla extract is a superior flavouring ingredient, derived solely from the vanilla pod by soaking it in alcohol and water. Only vanilla extract has the true flavour and aroma of vanilla pods, producing a fuller, richer taste which will transform the taste of any recipe. Vanilla is also a flavour enhancer so will work with other ingredients and flavours in a recipe to give amazing results! It is a versatile ingredient which can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes, try it in your cakes, cupcakes and buttercream.We always recommend using an extract rather than essence when baking. Our favourite extract is Nielsen-Massey, it gives consistently great results, the vanilla pods are hand picked in the finest growing regions of Mexico, Tahiti and Madagascar and enter a cold extraction process to extract the vanilla from the pod whilst still preserving over 300 flavour compounds.

• 1 tsp Red Food Colouring Gel
• 1 tsp Salt

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 225g Cream Cheese (Full Fat)

  Use full fat cream cheese as any lighter and you@ll end up with a runny consistency as soon as you try and mix it

• 2 tbsp Softened Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (We like Nielsen Massey)
• 375g Icing Sugar (We like Silver Spoon)

  This is refined white sugar ground to a fine powder with the addition of an anti-caking agent. It dissolves on contact with liquid and is therefore used to sweeten foods that require a smooth texture. It can be used to cover cupcakes and sponges, is easy to colour and flavour and is perfect for butter cream.

• 1 tbsp Buttermilk