Tayari's Blog: Red Velvet Cake!
Posted by TayariJones on December 15, 2006 08:39 AM
Filed under
Travels & Rambles
Well, it's a tradition here on the blog to post the recipe for Red Velvet Cake to ring in the holiday season. Before I list the ingredients, let me relay to you a little anecdote.
I heard a fairly well known transplanted southern writer speak about her anxiety about preparing a red velvet cake for her South Carolinian husband. This was back in their courting days. She says she had never heard of red-velvet cake and queried his mama who reluctantly sent the recipe to her Midwestern daughter-in-law-to-be. The short version is that the woman could not bear to feed her beloved anything that called for so much artificial coloring. Instead she just put in a couple-three drops and now their family has "pink velvet cake" instead. Hurrah for the "New South."
The recipe attached is my mama's recipe and it calls for 1 1/3 ounces of food color. That's about a bottle and a half. To make the cake taste right (let alone LOOK right), you're going to have to use the coloring. If you remove that much liquid from your cake it's going to be dry. And it's going to look stupid. If you're afraid of red food color, make another cake. Email me and I'll send you a recipe for pound cake or something.
'Tis the season... Here's the recipe, back by popular demand
RED VELVET CAKE
for three 8 inch layers
2 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons cocoa
1 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vinegar
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/3 ounces ( 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) red food coloring
Mixing instructions:
Line bottom of baking pans with waxed or parchment paper. Grease sides of pans. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, soda, salt, and cocoa together. Set aside. Cream butter or margarine and vegetable oil. Add sugar and cream until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add vinegar and vanilla. Mix until fluffy. Add food coloring. Fold in dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk. Bake until done, about 25 minutes.
(Makes 7 cups batter)
cream cheese frosting
2/3 cup butter
8 ounce- package cream cheese
2/3 teaspoon vanilla
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup pecans or walnuts
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There are 1 comments on "Red Velvet Cake!". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Ladylee ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
You know, I was wondering if you were going to post this recipe again! Next time, we need full step-by-step pictures of the process.
P.S. I'm not making it... That'll be too much cake around the house! Too tempting! (Maybe I'll pass it on to my sweet little grandma!)
Feel free to send me a slice, though! LOL!!!
December 15, 2006 10:57 AM