[1] The original recipe calls for sifted cake flour - meaning measuring the cake flour after it has been sifted - I'm not such a hardworking person and I don't have cake flour in my pantry so I simply substituted it with plain flour and corn flour. Normally the substitute is ¼ corn flour and ¾ plain flour to give you cake flour, but I altered a bit - resulting cake is still delicious!
[2] Hershey's cocoa is natural and hence is acidic. Apparently the natural cocoa is supposed to react with the baking soda to produce carbon dioxide and aids in the rising of the cake. I'm not sure if it's really the case though (need to do some experiments)... If using Varlhona cocoa or any Dutch-processed cocoa, it was suggested to up the baking powder by ½ teaspoon to counter for the lack of acidity. In addition, this amount of cocoa gives a slight hint of cocoa in the cake, so if you want a stronger cocoa taste, swap out some of the flour with cocoa - but beware: a higher cocoa content will result in drier baked goods and the cake will be less red - so you may need to up the liquid contents.
[3] No buttermilk? No problem! In a cup, add in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Top up with enough fresh milk to make 1 cup (250 ml/grams). Stir and let it sit for 10 minutes - buttermilk!
[4] This amount is about 2 small bottles of food colouring. The next time I bake this I will omit the red food colouring and replace it with buttermilk.
[5] Softened means the cream cheese and butter are soft to the touch but still cold - not at room temperature. Let the cream cheese and butter sit out of the refrigerator for 15 minutes to soften.
[6] Recipe adapted from
Pinch My Salt