• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 11/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp Madagascar cocoa (if not available then use regular cocoa)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 5 tsb red food colour (get the best you can or substitute with a beetroot reduction)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to about 180 deg C (less or more depending on the type of oven you have).

Take a large non metallic bowl and sift together the flour, half the soda, cocoa and salt.

In another bowl, cream the sugar with the oil until fluffy (with a hand held electric mixer) and then slowly add the eggs one by one and then the buttermilk slowly. Now add the vanilla and the food colour and mix with a spatula.

Take the rest of the soda and add it to a small bowl with the vinegar – this will foam up, quickly add this to the egg mixture.

Now, slowly fold in the flour into the egg mixture, a big heap evenly sifted in and folded in bit by bit.

Pour into a parchment and butter lined pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Now take out and leave on cooling rack until it’ a bit cool and then take out of pan and allow to cool completely before filling, icing and decorating.

Decorate and fill with the icing below and use the petals and fruit mentioned above to make it even prettier.

Cream Cheese Icing: illed this cake, it can’t be put in the fridge as the butter gets too hard and also cream cheese icing needs to be eaten fresh on the day and can’t be kept outside for too long, so best is to bake the cake a night before and ice on the day of eating)

by Pak101.com (few years ago!) / 712 views