Red Velvet Cake

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Two little eggs. Who would've dreamed what a difference they could make. I was mixing up Grandma Hale's Red Velvet Cake recipe for Easter dinner, but when I poured the batter into the pans, it was stiff. Granted, I hadn't made this recipe for a few years, but something didn't seem quite right.

Hmm, shortening, sugar, vanilla, eggs--whoops--I forgot to add the eggs. I knew it was too late. The old adage "better late than never" does not apply to baking. I was amazed at what two little eggs could do (or not do) to a recipe.

A pastry chef on television the other night was going on and on about how you should only use large-sized eggs in a recipe, "Remember that you're adding liquid when you add eggs. A large egg is about 1/4 cup. Don't use jumbo, or extra-large..." And she continued her egg sermon with what I thought was hoity-toity, trying-to-impress-me advice. Well, okay, so now I'm impressed. She's right. But I thought I might as well bake the cake and see what I ended up with.

Two, dry, 9-inch round cakes--one with a bunny-hill ski slope on the left side, that's what I ended up with. But I decided to push forward anyway and frost the darn thing. I used Grandma Hale's frosting recipe and followed it to a tee. But after I filled in the ski slope, I ran out of frosting.

Okay, let's take inventory. Company's coming in one hour. There isn't any time to mix up another cake. The stores are closed, so I can't buy a replacement dessert. Presentation counts a lot in how food tastes, another quote from the friendly pastry chef. Well, she was right about the eggs, I hope she comes through with this advice, too. So I set the layer cake on top of a white paper doily, added some colored sprinkles and jelly beans, stuck three pinwheels on the top, and then turned the cake around so the bare backside--where I ran out of frosting--didn't show.

Presentation does not make up for lack of taste. We all took a couple of bites, agreed that it wasn't my best work, and decided the rest should go in the garbage. But when I was just about to toss the cake in the trash, my 85 year-old father-in-law, bless his heart, insisted that he wanted to take the masterpiece home.

 

Suz-Easter-cake

Things don’t always turn out like I planned. But that’s okay,
I’ll get it right next time.

Suz-Easter-cake2

You need to split the two, 9-inch cake rounds in half and put frosting in-between them, too. I didn’t in this picture, because after after I filled in the “ski-slope” on one of the cakes, I knew I wouldn’t have enough frosting to do the sides. Another way to frost this cake is to put the frosting in-between the four layers and leave the sides without frosting. The red color makes the sides of the cake stand out.

 

Grandma Hale's Red Velvet Cake

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces red food color
1 tsp. real vanilla
2 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cup cake flour
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
 
Cream 1/2 cup shortening, 1 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. real vanilla together.
ADD: 2 eggs, one at a time and beat.
Make a paste of 2 oz red food coloring and 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa. ADD the paste to the sugar mixture. Mix.
 
Sift 2 1/2 cup cake flour and 1 teaspoon salt together.
 
Mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture..
 
Combine, 1 Tablespoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Add to the batter.
 
Bake in 2-9-inch round pans. 40 to 50 minutes or until done in a 350 degree oven. Split each layer when cool.
 
FROSTING
 
5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 cup butter
 
Cook flour and milk until thickened. Let stand until almost cold. Cream sugar and butter and vanilla until fluffy, and add to flour and milk mixture and beat until fluffy.  (Grandma always tinted the frosting pink.)

 

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