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Posted: Apr/23/2008 9:51 AM PST
I thought it might be fun to post this classic Urban Legend recipe... 1/2 c. shortening 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 c. sugar 1 c. buttermilk 2 eggs 2 1/4 c. sifted cake flour 2 oz. red food coloring 1 T. vinegar 2 T. cocoa 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt cream shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add in cocoa and coloring. Mix the salt and vanilla with the buttermilk; add to mixture, alternately, with the flour. Mix together soda and vinegar, fold into mix. Do not beat. Bake in 2 9-inch pans, greased and floured, for 20 min. @ 350 degrees. Cool completely before frosting (recipe follows): 5 T flour 1 c. butter 1 c. milk 1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. gran. sugar cook flour and milk until thick, stirring constantly. Let cool. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add cooled flour mixture, and beat until spreading consistency. |
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Posted: Apr/23/2008 10:07 AM PST
The Story behind the recipe: A woman staying at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel enjoyed a particulary delicious dessert in the hotel's restaurant. She was so impressed with the red velvet cake, with beautiful white frosting, that she asked if she might have the recipe. She was told that she could, for the price of "two-fifty" buy the recipe. She happily agreed to the charge of $2.50 being added to her dining bill. Some time later, back home, upon inspecting her credit card statement, she realized that she had been charged $250, not $2.50 as she expected. The hotel management refused to refund her money, since she already had the recipe in her possession, and her lawyer assured her that she had no legal recourse to pursue. In order to get her money's worth, (and exact a little revenge...) she decided to share the recipe far and wide with anyone who wished to have a copy, and her lawyer assured her she was free to do so, being as she paid the price for the recipe. About the legend: This story had been troublesome for the Waldorf-Astoria for ages, up until about the 1980's. At about that time, the expensive recipe legend seems to have shifted to Mrs. Field's cookies, then Marshal Fields, and finally settled upon Neiman Marcus "famous chocolate chip cookies". Today, the Waldor-Astoria hands out free copies of the "authentic" recipe. One of the commercial makers of baking mixes has on the market a Red Velvet cake mix (I forget which company). stories of this type go back to the 1930's. |
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Posted: Apr/23/2008 6:55 PM PST
i thought id herd somnethin like this with outher brands |
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Posted: Apr/24/2008 3:01 PM PST
I'd like to try that someday. I saw Paula Dean make it on her show. I thought it came from the South, not NEW YORK CITY!!!!!! |
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Posted: Apr/24/2008 11:29 PM PST
Thanks for the recipe, never heard of a red velvet cake before now. I will definitely try it.  Sounds good Is *shortening* referring to butter? or is it white lard in American speak ?
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Posted: Apr/25/2008 7:49 AM PST
Hello, marian! The shortening we use here in the states is vegetable shortening, a solid fat that comes in a can about the size of a coffee can. You could probably substitute butter and get good results. I have never tried this particular recipe, I am especially leery of the frosting part, it seems really unconventional. But I have used the boxed mix available in the grocery store. I'm not too sure all that red food coloring would be very healthy to have too often. I've made it for valentine's day, and it would be colorful for Christmas, especially with green tinted frosting. It's basically a colored chocolate cake. Let me know how the recipe turns out! |
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Posted: Apr/25/2008 3:44 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by Twiggybet1 Hello, marian! The shortening we use here in the states is vegetable shortening, a solid fat that comes in a can about the size of a coffee can. You could probably substitute butter and get good results. I have never tried this particular recipe, I am especially leery of the frosting part, it seems really unconventional. But I have used the boxed mix available in the grocery store. I'm not too sure all that red food coloring would be very healthy to have too often. I've made it for valentine's day, and it would be colorful for Christmas, especially with green tinted frosting. It's basically a colored chocolate cake. Let me know how the recipe turns out!my uncle has a wilamsonoma cookie cookbook an we made some choclate chip cookies THERES A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRISCO AND BUTTER (crisco=shorteningh we use its the butter flavored stuff) an red velvet is soooo good but i dont think that will be enough we made some in a foods class well my friends all loved the leftovers anywho tho it required ALOT of red food coloring an it was to fill a 9x13 pan too |
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Posted: Apr/25/2008 5:50 PM PST
I worked in a bakery 30 years ago that made Red Velvet cake and other than the color and it having cream cheese frosting with chopped walnuts on it it wasn't that different from a chocolate cake. It's pretty, but chocolate tastes the same to me. |
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Posted: Apr/25/2008 10:14 PM PST
I can't believe some of you didn't know about Red Velvet Cakes. They are a true staple here in the South! You can't go to a potluck dinner without one! My mom makes them from scratch and everyone has a fit over them! Personally, I prefer a homemade German Sweet chocolate though! |
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Posted: Apr/25/2008 11:36 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by Twiggybet1 Hello, marian! The shortening we use here in the states is vegetable shortening, a solid fat that comes in a can about the size of a coffee can. You could probably substitute butter and get good results. I have never tried this particular recipe, I am especially leery of the frosting part, it seems really unconventional. But I have used the boxed mix available in the grocery store. I'm not too sure all that red food coloring would be very healthy to have too often. I've made it for valentine's day, and it would be colorful for Christmas, especially with green tinted frosting. It's basically a colored chocolate cake. Let me know how the recipe turns out!Thanks for the info. I will try it with butter, as the only other thing we get here besides Lard and butter is margarine which is a vegetable fat similar to butter. It does not come in a can but is packed like butter in grease proof and refridgerated ?? |
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