Cake or cupcake, red velvet

Brinna Sands’s selected red velvet cake has a burgundy-red crumb with a mild cocoa flavour and contrasting buttercream. The two baked rounds are split to create four stacked layers, with frosting between them and across the top.

Unsalted butter and granulated sugar are beaten together before two eggs enter one at a time. Liquid red food colouring, Dutch-process cocoa, table salt, baking soda and the selected cider vinegar are stirred in next.

All-purpose flour alternates with the selected buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. The stiff batter is smoothed with a wetted flexible spatula in two greased round pans lined with greased parchment, then baked and cooled completely.

For the buttercream, a separate portion of unsalted butter is beaten with vegetable shortening. Table salt, vanilla and optional meringue powder join before icing sugar and milk; additional sugar or milk can adjust the spreading consistency.

The cooled rounds are cut horizontally and stacked with frosting between the layers. Frosting finishes the top while the sides display the burgundy cake and pale filling, and the finished cake is sliced and served at room temperature.