Ingredients:
Cake (for two 15 cm round molds):
- 350 g all-purpose flour
- 25 g Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 350 g white sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 150 ml vegetable oil
- 200 g butter
- 4-5 large eggs
- 240 ml buttermilk*
- 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 30 ml red food colouring*
Cream cheese filling and frosting:
- 250 g cream cheese (room temperature)
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 300 confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
Preparation:
Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 o C. Grease cake mold or line with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk eggs, and vegetable oil until smooth, and then add yogurt, vinegar, vanilla extract, and coloring.
- Slowly add flour mixture in the second mixture until combined well.
- Divide batter in the two molds up to 3/4 full.
- Bake in preheated oven about 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cheese Filling
- Combine cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar, and beat using a mixer until creamy.
- In a separate bowl whip cream on high speed until smooth and spreadable. Then add to cream cheese.
Once the cakes are out of the over, leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled down, use a bread knife to cut each into two even layers to create four stacks or leave it as it is. Cover each layer with a thin portion of the cheese filling (thick portion if only two layers), and use the rest to cover the cake outside. Decorate as desired.
*If you cannot find buttermilk at your local store, you can replace it with your own recipe. For 240 ml of buttermilk, combine in a glass bowl 15 ml of lemon juice or white vinegar and 240 ml full-fat or semi-skimmed milk. Leave aside for 10-15 minutes. You can refrigerate and use up to 2 weeks. Alternatively, you can substitute with milk and plain yogurt.
*Natural-only food coloring will affect the colour and your sponge is most likely to turn out a brown-red shade. It’s recommended to use gel food colouring for a more vibrant result.
ENJOY!
