This recipe was brilliant creation made by Rosanna Pansino, it may have been made by others but she made this recipe almost fool proof, even for someone like me!

I love going all out for each holiday even if my religious beliefs don’t quite fit them all. I think regardless of religion the holidays can be very enjoyable and a good reason to get everyone together!

You will need a 1½-quarts (3.8 litres) ovenproof glass bowl (Pyrex) to bake the cake – https://pyrex.co.uk/products/classic-glass-bowl-high-resistance or https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pyrex-Prepware-1-Quart-Rimmed-Mixing/dp/B0008155F6?th=1

Ingredients –

Ingredients for the cake:
113g Unsalted butter – you may want extra to put on the pan/for greasing
400g Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
240g Plain Flour
25g Cocoa powder (I like to use Bournville)
½ teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
240g Sour cream
120ml whole milk
1 teaspoon red food colouring (ensure this is bake stable)
A least one tub of cream cheese frosting – You can make this easily as well – https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/foolproof-cream-cheese-frosting) *

*Cream Cheese frosting:

• 100g butter , softened
• 1 tbsp orange juice (optional)
• 100g icing sugar , sieved
• 200g full fat cream cheese

Raspberry Decoration:
350-500g jar of Seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
60ml Water
1 teaspoon red food colouring (this does not need to be bake stable)

Marshmallow Fondant:
280g Mini marshmallows
3 tablespoons water
750g Icing sugar
Vegetable shortening, for greasing your hands (butter can work too but I really advise shortening as there isn’t really any flavour)

Methods –

Red Velvet Cake:
– Preheat oven to 140/150ºC (Fan oven).
– Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl.
– Take a different bowl and beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar to the butter and beat until fluffy.
– Mix the eggs and vanilla in a cup and once combined, pour into the butter and sugar mixture, beat until fully combined.
– Mix the sour cream and milk well in a separate bowl.
– You can use an electric whisk and alternate adding flour mixture and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture, this is where you will also add the food colouring (try and add this with the wet liquid it make it easier to mix through).
– Grease the heatproof glass bowl and then pour the mixture.
– Bake until the cake tester comes out clean, this should take about 1 hour or an hour and 30 minutes.
– Allow the cake to cool fully before removing it from the bowl! Tidy up the shape of the cake with a knife, you may need to level the flat side so it sits well, place the cake onto a plate that you’d like to use for presentation.
– If you need to make the cream cheese frosting make this now and as long as the cake is fully cooled you can cover the whole surface with a thin layer (This will allow the decoration to stick).

Blood decoration:
– This is very easy and quick to make, just place all the ingredients except the food colouring into a pan, whisk it all up and bring to a boil over a medium not high heat.

– Once boiling, mix in the food colouring until well combined and then remove from heat.

You can leave this mixture to the side as it will need to cool fully.

Marshmallow Fondant:
– Place the marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl and then coat them evenly with a bit of water.
– Microwave for 30 seconds intervals and stir until the mixture is smooth.
– Sift half of the icing sugar into a large bowl and make a well. Add the melted marshmallow mixture into the well and sift the rest of the sugar on top.
– Coat your hands in the shortening to help stop the marshmallows from sticking to you. Knead this until it is nice and soft but also no longer sticks to you.
– Use your hands to roll the fondant into 1-2cm thick ropes and arrange them on the cake to look like a brain
– Use a greasing brush or spoon if you want a messier/splatter look, to add the raspberry blood over the fondant.