Kuk's Kitchen: Easy Kerala Malayali Syrian Christian Recipes, Indian Curry Recipes and Cakes : Red velvet football cake

When I decided to do my month of cakes I knew instantly which cake would make the grand finale at the end of the month - the red velvet football cake. I made this for my dear dear son's fourth birthday when we invited his school and other friends over to a soft play centre. We had loads of fun that day. It was a football themed party - surprise! surprise! The kids had a gala time with the care taker turned football coach 'training the young beckhams' how to score goals.

He wanted a football cake and wasn't sure whether he wanted a ground or a football itself. Now, as a mum you cannot take chances especially on such a special day for your son. So I decided to make both. I will post details of how to make a football ground cake in a future post. This time I was on the football itself. I did my homework reading various blogs and I found the hexagon and pentagon shaped fondant cutters in a gorgeous shop. Thanks to my helpful colleague.

I made homemade fondant a week in advance so it sets beautifully, ready to roll. Watch this space for home made fondant from scratch recipe.

I covered my cake board with plain white fondant, placed the cake and covered the cake with another layer of white fondant. I then cut out hexagons out of black fondant and placed them strategically to give the effect of a football.

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Red velvet Football cake

Serves 10 - 12

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Ingredients:

1. Plain flour - 2 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
2. Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 100g
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Eggs - 2
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Liquid red food colouring - 2 tbsp
White distilled vinegar - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two 23 cm round cake tins and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Grease and dust with flour. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl sift together (1). Set aside.
In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food colouring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.
Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon.Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 -30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan.
With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake.