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August 2, 2011
Red Velvet Cake
Traditional Cakes & Pies
Prep time:
24 minutesbaking time:
30 minutes“My family called this cake icing 'mystery icing,' because the way it's made is so unusual, no one can guess how it's done.”
Ingredients
Serves 16
- 3 1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ounce red food coloring
- 2 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 3/4 cup milk
Directions
1
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
2
Combine 11/2 cups granulated sugar, shortening and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set at high speed until creamy. Mix cocoa and red food coloring in a small bowl. Add to the creamed mixture and beat well.
3
Sift 21/2 cups flour and salt together. Mix buttermilk and vinegar in a small bowl. Beat flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture into cocoa mixture.
4
Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and baking soda. Spoon into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool in cake pans for 10 minutes. Transfer layers to wire racks to cool completely.
5
Cream butter and remaining sugar in a large bowl. Cook milk and remaining flour in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring continually until thickened, about 2 minutes; cool. Stir in remaining vanilla extract. Add to butter mixture and beat until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cooled cake on a cake plate. Store in refrigerator.
Variations(0)
Reviews(0)
Grandma's Secret Trick
Grandma's Secret Trick
Grandma was an experimenter and occasionally tried using self-rising flour, adding nuts to the batter or increasing the amount of cocoa. She learned from her experiments that the best results came from leaving this recipe just like it is.
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