Food/Two-fifty/red velvet cake recipes

The AFU and Urban Legend Archive
Food
Two-fifty
red velvet cake recipes

From: Craig S. Thom <craig@witty.com>
Date: 1 December 1995
Subject: Red Velvet Cake Recipes

(Note--This file is also available at
http://craigthom.home.mindspring.com/red_velvet_recipes.html)

While visiting my mother in Georgia over the Thanksgiving weekend, I checked her recipe books for Red Velvet Cake and related stories.

While none of the books mentioned the Waldorf-Astoria story about the Red Velvet Cake, I did find ten books containing a recipe for the cake.

I have a suspicion that the red velvet cake has existed in the southern United States for a long time, independently of the legend. None of these books date back before the 1950s, but most are collections of home recipes, and there are variations that imply that these had been tweaked and passed down at least a generation or two. Mom is going to check the libraries for older instances that she thinks may exist. She is enjoying this.

While asking her cow orkers for stories about Red Velvet Cake, one said that she'd heard it was invented for a red velvet theme wedding.

I also found a recipe for "$250.00 Cookies", from a 1993 book, no doubt taken from the recent legends. I found a Waldorf-Astoria cake, but it had no red in it. I also found a mysterious "Chocolate Cake -- $50 Recipe" in a 1959 book. This sounds a lot like the same legend, but it is a lemon chocolate cake with no red and has no story with it.

Mom also has a photocopied "Neiman's $250 Cookie Recipe". On Friday, 11/24/95, I visited the food section of NM and asked where the chocolate chip cookies were. The woman passing out tasty samples of fruit cake laughed and said that her husband had come home with the recipe just a few weeks before and that he had never heard it before and believed it, until she straightened him out. She said I was the first person she had ever heard mention it in the store.

Here are the ten Red Velvet Cake recipes I have uncovered so far. I will provide more as I find them. Other than the missed typographic error, the only changes I have made are the substitute of "1/2" for the "half" character and the omission of the "degree" character.

I include these not for the recipes themselves but for the variations. Of course, the reader can still use the recipes.

Mary Beth's Sampler -- A Georgia Cookbook. No copyright date, but it is an American Cancer Society benefit book named after Mary Beth Busby, then wife of the governor of Georgia. He was governor from 1976 to 1984. This recipe was contributed by Mrs. Tom Triplett of Savannah, Georgia.

1 stick butter
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 C. buttermilk
2 oz. red cake coloring
2 T. cocoa
1 t. vanilla
1 T. vinegar
1 t. soda (sifted)
2 1/2 C. cake flour
1 t. salt

Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Make paste of cake coloring and cocoa. Add to mixture. Add salt to flour and sift. Add flour and buttermilk alternately, mix well. Add vanilla, mix well. Add soda and vinegar and don't beat, just blend. Bake in three 9" pans about 30 minutes at 350.

Icing

2 t. cornstarch
1 C. water
1 C. sugar
2 sticks butter
1 t. vanilla

Cook cornstarch and water until thick. Let cool. Cream sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Add to cooled mixture, beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream.

"A Taste Of South Side" (the quotation marks are on the cover). There is no copyright notice, but it says it is sponsored by "1994-1995 South Side Parent Teacher Organization Board", South Side Elementary School, LaGrange, Georgia. The disclaimer is cute. This recipe is from "Brenda Hornsby, Mother of Jennifer Hornsby".

2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 1/2 c. Wesson oil
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cocoa
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 bottle red food coloring

Sift flour, salt, sugar, cocoa and soda. Add buttermilk, Wesson oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, eggs and food coloring in order; mix thoroughly. Bake in 3 layer pans (greased and floured) at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

Frosting:

1 stick margarine
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped pecans
1 box confectioners sugar

Soften margarine and cream cheese at room temperature; cream well. Add sugar; continue beating until creamy. Add vanilla and pecans. Spread between layers and on top of cake.

Cake:
2 ounces red food coloring
2 teaspoons cocoa, heaping
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Make a paste of red food coloring and cocoa. Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly. Add eggs and mix well, then add the paste. Add buttermilk alternately with the flour and salt. Beat well after each addition and then add vanilla. Put soda into the vinegar and fold into the batter. Pour batter into 2 greased 9-inch cake pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and split each layer in half, making 4 layers. Frost layers with icing.

Icing:
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook flour and milk until thick. Then cool. Be sure it is cool. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add vanilla. Beat the two mixtures together until the consistency is that of whipped cream.

"Watts' Cookin'" on the line. No copyright date, compiled by the Jackson Electric Membership Corporation in northeast Georgia. A handwritten note states that this was a Christmas gift in 1980. Contributed by Mrs. W. C. Alexander and Mrs. Vallie Nix.

1/2 C. shortening
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 oz. red cake coloring (1 small bottle) 1 tb. cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 C. buttermilk
2 1/2 C. plain flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tb. vinegar

Cream shortening, add sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Add cake coloring and cocoa. Sift flour and salt together and add alternately with buttermilk. Fold in soda and vinegar. Bake in 3 layers at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Use chocolate filling for stacking.

What's Cookin' at Wesley. From the United Methodist Youth Fellowship, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, Lakeland, Florida. Copyright 1968-1991 by Circulation Services, Inc., of Leawood, Kansas, a company that apparently does fundraising cookbook publishing. Contributed by Helene Kent.

1/2 c. Crisco
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 c. cake flour
2 Tbsp. cocoa
2 oz. red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vinegar

Cream Crisco, sugar and eggs. Make paste of cocoa and food coloring and add. Mix vanilla with buttermilk and add alternately with flour. Mix soda and vinegar and fold into mixture (do not beat). Bake in 2 9-inch layer cake pans for 30 minutes at 350.

Icing:

5 Tbsp. flour
1 c. sweet milk

Cook to a stiff paste and let it get completely cold.

Cream:

1 c. butter
1 c. granulated sugar

Add the cooled flour mixture with teaspoon vanilla. Beat well until it looks like whipped cram. Cover layers and side of cake. Keeps best in refrigerator.

1/2 cup Shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 ounce red food coloring
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour

Butter Icing

1/4 cup soft margarine
1 box confectioners sugar (sifted)
3 tablespoons cream
dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake: Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Make thin paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to creamed mixture. Sift flour and salt together, then alternate buttermilk and flour to creamed mixture one tablespoon at a time beginning and ending with flour. Mix soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Bake in 2 8-1 or 9-inch pans for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing: Beat on low speed until blended, then beat on high speed until thick enough to spread. More cream or confectioners sugar may be added to give desired consistency.

2 c. Wesson oil
2 1/2 c. plain flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 oz. red food coloring
1 tsp. cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt

Use three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until done as ovens vary. Test with toothpick for doneness.

Icing:

1 1/2 boxes powdered sugar
1 1/2 sticks margarine
11 oz. cream cheese
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. nuts

Feeding Our Flock -- St. Paul United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia. No copyright date, but, based on a reference to a 1993 church expansion, I think this is 1993 or 1994. This book also includes a "$250.00 Cookie Recipe", contributed by Ruth Duggar, which is identical to my mother's copy of the "Neiman's $250 Cookie Recipe" (without the story). This Red Velvet recipe is from Hope Whitten.

American Beauty (Red Velvet) Cake

2 oz. red food coloring
3 Tbsp. milk chocolate and instant cocoa 1/2 c. shortening (non-liquid)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. sifted white flour
1 Tbsp. white or clear vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix food coloring and milk chocolate and instant cocoa and let stand. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs and food coloring mixture and beat well. To first mixture, add buttermilk, salt, vanilla and cake flour. Beat well. Mix by hand vinegar and baking soda. Add to mixture. Bak in 2 prepared 8-inch round pans in a 350 oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool and cut each layer in half with thread to make 4 layers. Frost between each layer and over entire cake with icing prepared as follows.

4 Tbsp. flour
1 c. milk
2 pinches salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter or oleo
1/2 c. shortening (non-liquid)
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix flour and milk and cook to consistency of cream. Mix and/or cream salt, sugar, butter or oleo, shortening and vanilla. Add the first mixture to the second mixture and beat until fluffy.

Perennials -- A Southern Celebration of Foods and Flavors. Copyright 1984 by the Junior Service League of Gainesville, Georgia, Inc. The cake recipe has no credit, but the Cream Cheese-Nut Icing is credited to Debbie Holder Kelly and the Creamy Icing to Diane Derrick Blalock.

2 (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring
3 tablespoons sifted cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups cake flour, unsifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream Cheese Nut Icing or Creamy Icing

Mix food coloring and cocoa to form paste. Add sugar, shortening, and eggs; cream thoroughly at medium speed of electric mixer. Sift together flour and salt; and add alternately, at low speed, to creamed mixture with buttermilk and extracts. Mix vinegar and soda; blend into batter. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch layer pans. Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes. Turn onto wire racks to completely cool. Frost with Cream Cheese-Nut Icing or Creamy Icing.

Cream Cheese-Nut Icing

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar, sifted 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Combine cheese and margarine; cream well. Add sugar gradually, beating until smooth. Blend in vanilla. Spread on layers. Sprinkle top of cake with chopped nuts.

Creamy Icing

1 cup milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan add milk gradualy to flour, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until very thick; cool. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Add to cooled flour mixture. Whip with electric mixer at high speed until mixture resembles whipped cream. Spread on cake. Cake should be refrigerated.

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