Red Velvet Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS
For the Cake:
- 250g cake flour
- 6ml bicarbonate of soda
- 40g cocoa powder
- 240ml canola oil
- 300g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 30ml red food colouring
- 7ml vanilla essence
- 100ml strong coffee, cooled
- 240ml buttermilk
- 2,5ml white wine vinegar
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 125g soft butter
- 250g cream cheese
- 500g icing sugar, sifted
- 5ml vanilla essence
For the White Chocolate & Cranberry Shards:
- 100g white chocolate
- 50g dried cranberries
METHOD
To make the Cake:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Beat the oil and sugar together until light. Add in the eggs, food colouring and vanilla essence and beat well.
Beat the coffee and buttermilk together in a separate mixing bowl. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients and half of the coffee mixture to the egg mixture and mix. Add vinegar to the remaining coffee mixture and add this with the rest of dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Mix well.
Grease a Le Creuset Heart-Shaped Casserole. Pour the cake mixture in and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C. Turn down to 160°C and bake for another hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
To make the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth. Add half of the icing sugar and mix well. Add the rest of icing sugar and vanilla and mix again. Refrigerate until needed. Once cooled, cut the cake in half. Spread half of the frosting in the middle and the rest on top. Alternatively, dust with icing sugar and decorate with the chocolate shards.
To make the White Chocolate & Cranberry Shards:
Melt the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl over a casserole of simmering water. Stir until melted. Spread on a lined baking tray and sprinkle cranberries on top. Once hard, break into pieces.