Method

​1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5. Grease and line with greaseproof paper two 20cm cake tins.

2 In a bowl, cream the butter or margarine (using an electric whisk) with the sugar until it is light, fluffy and pale in colour. Add the vanilla extract into the mix. Whisk in the eggs one at a time to prevent the mix from curdling. Then add the gluten-free flour and cocoa powder and whisk again. Finally, add the red food colouring and milk and give one final whisk until it is nice and smooth.

3 Equally divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for about 30 mins. To see if it cooked through use a skewer or cake tester. Push it into the sponge and if it comes out clean it is baked.

4 For the cream cheese icing: beat together the cream cheese, butter (both need to be at room temperature to make it easier) and vanilla extract until smooth and lighter in colour (about 3-4 minutes). Beat in icing sugar a little at a time, until the icing is light and fluffy. If you find the icing is too thin, add more icing sugar and beat again until you reach your desired consistency.

5 To assemble the cake: transfer one cake onto a serving dish/plate, flat-side down. Trim the tops off the cake to create a flat top. You’ll need the sponge you take off for later so put them to one side.

6 Place a good amount of icing onto the cake and spread evenly over the top. Place the second cake layer on top and use the remaining icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.

7 Grate the spare sponge into fine crumbs and use these to decorate the top and sides of your cake as desired. As it's Valentine’s day soon at the time of writing this recipe, I created a heart template so I could decorate the top with a large heart. I think this works really well with the red sponge! Be creative and make it your own.