Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Cake:
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ounces red food coloring
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnishes:
1 cup flaked coconut, lightly toasted or tossed in red food coloring (optional)
10 chocoalte- dipped strawberries (optional)
1 square semisweet baking chocolate, grated (optional)
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Directions: |
Directions:To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9” round cakes pans or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl cream the shortening, sugar and eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together the cocoa, flour and salt three times to make sure that the flavors are integrated totally. (Dry ingredients are hard to blend well with a spoon.) Add this dry mix to the creamed mixture, alternately with the buttermilk, constantly blending. Then fold in the vanilla and blend in the red food coloring until the batter is, well, red. Add the vinegar and baking soda, blend, and pour into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on wire racks while preparing the icing.
To make the icing, cook the milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture has the texture of pudding. Remove from the heat and cool. When the milk mixture cools, in a medium bowl cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add to the cooled flour mixture and whip by hand or with a handheld electric mixer until the mixture is creamy and has the consistency of icing.
Turn one layer of the cake out on a cake plate and ice the top of the cake. Place the second layer of the cake on the frosted layer and ice the top. (If you would like to ice the sides of the cakes, simply double the icing recipe.) If desired, sprinkle toasted or colored coconut flakes on top for garnish. Another pretty garnish is to place chocolate-dipped strawberries on top, placing the larger end of the strawberries down and letting the cones stick up. Similar-size berries are placed around the outer edge of the cake top and are just so pretty! Another finishing touch is a light dusting of semisweet chocolate. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: This is an old, old recipe. I read somewhere that red velvet cake was made during the Civil Water to bring the husbands back home to their wives. That must have been some cake! I remember that in one of my favorite scenes in the film Steel Magnolias, the innards of an armadillo cake that adorned the groom’s table were red velvet. Basically it’s a chocolate cake with red food coloring and white icing, but something happens when all the flavors come together that is distinctly Old South. Other places use butter cream or cream cheese icing, but this recipe is old and Southern, and the icing is simply vanilla. You can use organic red food coloring or beet juice for the red color of the cake, but this recipe was from a time when no one worried about things like chemicals, so throw caution to the wind and enjoy.
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This recipe for Ol’ South Red Velvet Cake is from