• Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C.
• Grease, flour and then line the bottoms of the cake pans with parchment paper. Set them aside.

Make the cakes

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
  3 cups (375g) all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ cups (300g ) sugar
• Pour in the homemade buttermilk, vanilla, oil, vinegar and food coloring to the dry ingredients. Use the hand mixer to mix everything until just combined.
  1 ¼ cups homemade buttermilk (prepared by mixing 1¼ cups milk (310ml) with 1 tablespoon + ¾ teaspoon white vinegar; let sit 5–10 minutes), ½ cup (125ml) light vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoons red gel food coloring (I use Wilton Red Red)
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans. (To get equal layers, I like to weigh the batter first and then evenly distribute it.)
• Bake the cakes for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Let the cakes rest in the pans for about 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges, turn the pans upside down and remove the cakes. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
• Trim the tops. Use a box grater to make crumbs with them. Set aside.

Make the cream cheese frosting

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter on high speed for about 5 minutes, until it's creamy and fluffy.
  ½ cup (113 g / 4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Then gradually add the powdered sugar. (I usually add it in 2 or 3 batches.)
  4-5 cups (500g-650g) powdered sugar
• Add the vanilla and cream cheese and mix until everything is well combined.
  1 teaspoon vanilla, 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, full-fat
• If your frosting is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar and place it in the refrigerator to thicken. If it's too thick, you can add a little milk, a teaspoon at a time, to thin it out a bit.

Assemble the cake

• Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand and spread about 1 cup frosting on top. (I use an offset spatula to even it out.)
• Then add the second cake layer on top with the bottom side facing up. Spread frosting on the top and sides. Use a bench scraper or an offset spatula to smooth out the sides.
• Decorate the cake with the reserved cake crumbs.
• Enjoy!