This easy traybake cake is perfect for a celebration, or an afternoon pick me up. A highly-concentrated food colouring paste will give this cake its traditional red-brown hue without diluting the batter too much, but you can leave it out completely, if you prefer.
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Yields:
16 serving(s)
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
390
Ingredients
For the sponge
250g
unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
250g
caster sugar
4
medium eggs
200ml
buttermilk
275g
self-raising flour
50g
cocoa powder
1
-3tsp red food colouring paste, we used Sugarflair Velvet Red Spectral, see GH TIP
1Tbsp.
white wine vinegar
1tsp.
bicarbonate of soda
For the icing
100g
unsalted butter, softened
100g
icing sugar, sifted
250g
full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
Red sprinkles, optional, to decorate
Directions
Step 1Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and grease and line a rough 20 x 30cm roasting tin with baking parchment. For the sponge, in a large bowl using a handheld electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Step 2In a large jug whisk the eggs and buttermilk. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt into a separate medium bowl.
Step 3Add 1/3 of the egg mixture to the butter bowl and beat to combine. Spoon in 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat to combine. Repeat twice more until the liquid and dry ingredients are incorporated. Beat in 1-3tsp red food colouring paste to reach desired shade.
Step 4In a small bowl quickly mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Pour into the cake batter and quickly beat to combine. Scrape into the lined tin and smooth to level. Bake for 45min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
Step 5For the icing, in a large bowl using a handheld electric whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the cream cheese just until combined.
Step 6Transfer the cooled cake to a board and spread the icing on top. Decorate with sprinkles, if using. Cut into 16 pieces and serve.
TO STORE Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
Alice Shields is Senior Cookery Writer for Good Housekeeping. A trained pastry chef, you’ll find her food styling on photo shoots, developing delicious recipes and writing about all things food. She loves to bake and her favourite pudding will always be a chocolate fondant. Originally hailing from Lancashire, she finally achieved her goal of getting a butter pie recipe into the magazine.
