I grew up on red velvet cake. Well, not exactly. It’s not like we ate it all the time. But it was always a very special dessert and I learned to love it from an early age. Diane and her mother Helen are two ladies from my hometown who make the best red velvet cake. Imagine my delight when I recently received a letter in the mail from them, complete with a handwritten recipe for their red velvet cake!

I just made the cake for the first time this week. Red velvet perfection. Had to call and tell them right away (after the baby shower, where it was consumed). And … of course … I asked if this was a family secret, or if I could share. And sweet Helen (84 years young) said something like “At my age, there’s no point in keeping any more secrets.” Amen! Love her attitude.

Then again, I’m a big fan of sharing recipes. How do you think I got all my best ones? Because people are willing to share.

RED VELVET CAKE

[ CAKE ]

1/2 c. Crisco shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. cocoa
2 oz. red food coloring
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. vinegar

Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs. Make a paste with cocoa and food coloring and add to the cream mixture. Mix salt and vanilla with buttermilk, add alternately with flour to creamed mixture. Mix soda and vinegar and fold into mixture. (Do not beat … fold only.) Bake in two 9″ layer pans for 30 minutes at 350.

[ ICING ]

5 Tbsp. flour
1 c. milk
1 c. granulated sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c. Crisco shortening
1 tsp. vanilla

Cook flour and milk until thick. Stir constantly. Make sure you cool milk and flour mixture (in refrigerator). Cream together sugar, butter, crisco, and vanilla well with electric beater. Add flour and milk mixture. Beat until right consistency to spread. This should get fluffy like whipped cream.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 6:13 am and is filed under Desserts & Treats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.