LAY OUT THE RED VELVET CAKE, the Daring Baker Overachievers are at it again!

When I worked as a Nephrology Social Worker (Dialysis) I was recruited to Abbeville, SC. Northern girl relocated to a very small Southern town. Oh what a culture shock! But I love to learn about other cultures. And there was things for this Yankee girl to learn. Oh but thats subject for a whole other blog! (Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Southerners. My brother and his wife live in Knoxville.)
One thing I did learn about was Red Velvet Cake. One of the girls I worked with made a good Red Velvet Cake. She gave me her recipe. I never had a chance to make it when I lived down there but when I returned to NY I decided to give it a go. I looked down the list of ingredients and there was what I assume to be a typo. The recipe called for two cups of oil. I'm thinking this has got to be a mistake. I made the recipe, and changed up the fat content and ended up with a really good cake. I liked it. Was it worth a whole bottle of red food coloring? Eh, not really. I would have preferred it au naturale, but hey you have to do it at least once. Steel Magnolia, Armadillo style.

So here is the recipe I used for these cupcakes. I liked the flavor but was not thrilled with the texture or the "crumb".

Next time I will stick with this recipe. MUCH BETTA!

Here it is:

SOUTHERN RED VELVET CAKE
Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz red food coloring
2 1/2 cups ap flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two nine inch baking pans. Cream shortening and then add sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Make a paste out of the cocoa and red food coloring; add to creamed mixture. In one small bowl combine salt and flour. In another small bowl combine buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture. Beating well after each addition. In another small bowl sprinkle baking powder over vinegar. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Divide among pans. Bake for about 30 minutes until cake tester comes clean.


Frost with cream cheese frosting.