Red Velvet Cake:

• Pre-heat oven to 350F (conventional, no fan) and line 3 8" cake pans with parchment paper
• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil and melted butter for 1-2 minutes until the mixture looks lighter in color (the sugar won't be dissolved, that's okay)
• Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk for another minute until the mixture is very smooth and creamy
• Add the buttermilk, vinegar and red food color, and whisk until combined. The batter should be a bright, vivid red color
• In a separate small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with the boiling water. Add the cocoa mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. At this point, the batter will be a deeper red color
• Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the batter. Gently and slowly whisk until the dry ingredients are just combined and no lumps remain. Do not overmix
• Divide the cake batter between 3 8" cake pans
• Bake for 23-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with light, moist crumbs on it (no wet batter). Remove from the oven
• Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Then carefully turn them out and let them fully cool down

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Add the room temperature butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to whisk on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks smooth. Scrape the bottom and edges of the bowl
• Add the sifted powdered sugar slowly, 1 cup at a time, while whisking on medium speed. Stop whisking once the sugar is dissolved and a fluffy cream cheese frosting is formed (taste after 3 cups sugar and add more as needed)
• If the frosting is too soft / runny, refrigerate for a few minutes until it reaches a spreadable consistency. If you find your frosting to be lumpy, you can also pass it through a sieve (although it is tedious)

Assembly:

• Working one cake layer at time, carefully trim off the dome and slather with a generous amount of the cream cheese frosting until all three layers are stacked on top of each other
• Cover the cake with a thin layer of the frosting (crumb coat), spreading it as smoothly as possible. Refrigerate for 15 minutes
• Add the remaining frosting and decorate the cake however you like. I make crumbs using the trimmed off cake domes and use them to decorate
• Serve & enjoy!

Video Tutorial:

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