Red Velvet Ombre Cake

I've been experimenting over the past year or so with different red velvet recipes, trying to find the best one. It has to be moist and spongy, but not to sweet (well at least thats how I like it). So far this recipe seems to be the best and also rises with the best shape in the oven. I iced mine with vanilla butter cream icing (as I had no cream cheese on hand) in an ombre style which started from dark pink on the bottom and slowly merged its way up the cake to white. Oh and Im sorry about the colour of all these photos, its night time so the lighting isn't particularly good :/

Red Velvet Ombre Cake 

adapted from Bakerella

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups minus 2 tbsp of castor sugar

1 Tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tbsp red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.

Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.

Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool cut each cake in half to make to equal rounds. 

Vanilla Butter Icing

adapted from Sweetapolita 

360g unsalted butter, softened 

390g confectioners’ sugar, sifted

4 tbsp milk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium. Butter will become very pale & creamy.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy and fluffy.

Divide Icing into 3 bowls and colour one with dark pink, one with light pink and leave the third just white. Spread a dollop of the white icing on one cake round, place another cake round on top and spread on a dollop of the dark pink icing then put the third cake round on, spread over a dollop of the pale pink icing and place the final cake round on top. Press down slightly. Spread the remaining of the white icing on the top of the cake and smooth it over (make sure it goes over the sides a little) then spread the dark pink around the bottom half of the cake and then the pale pink on the upper half. Get a large pallet knife and smooth as well as blending the icing around the cake. Top with edible flowers and toppings of your choice. 

Heres a video to demonstrate how to make put on the ombre icing.