Red Velvet Canada Day Cake

This cake was a double birthday cake because not only was it Canada's birthday yesterday but also my little sister's 19th birthday! Of course I had to do a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing to stay with the "red and white" theme! Red velvet cake is actually just a chocolate cake that has been dyed red (using a massive amount of red food colouring) - perfect for Canada Day. It doesn't have a deep chocolate flavour, but is very moist and delicious with the cream cheese icing.

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 and 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 and 1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 2 oz. bottle liquid red food colour (or 4 Tbsp. red food colour) - You could also use about 2 Tbsp. of gel paste food colour if you have that instead

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the centre of oven. Line the bottom of a 9x13" rectangular baking pan with parchment or wax paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Add in the sugar and mix until combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, food colour, vinegar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed. Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing until combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack before removing from the pan.

Once completely cooled, transfer the cake to a serving platter or plate and ice with cream cheese icing (recipe below). Arrange the sliced strawberries into a Canadian Flag design or, if it's not Canada Day, you can cover the whole cake surface with strawberries or just leave it plain.

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:

8 oz. (1 package) cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

2 and 1/2 cups icing sugar

Cream Cheese Icing Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer. Slowly add in the icing sugar. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until the icing is smooth. Store prepared icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

*Recipe by Brooke McMillan