Family Secrets

Wow, apparently cleaning solutions are the way to y’alls hearts! My blog has been blowing up since I posted my grout cleaner on Tuesday night! I’ve also discovered that people as far as Canada and Australia have been reading – I’m truly humbled and amazed! Thanks so much for taking the time to come visit with me.

Anyways, on to the real reason you’re here today……Family Secrets! For those of you who don’t know, recipes around here are often times considered precious heirlooms. They are lovingly passed down from generation to generation, and sometimes kept under close lock and key until the time to pass it along arrives. We aren’t quite so secretive in our family. But just to be sure, I did get permission before posting today. I have a recipe that is very near and dear to me that I want to share with you - my Grandma Sims’ Red Velvet Cake. My Grandma passed away when I was fairly young, so I can’t actually say I remember her making it, so much as I remember it being at EVERY family event. No matter what was going on my mom or one of my aunts was going to make sure this showstopper was there (this and Deviled Eggs of course). :) As time has passed, we don’t get together as much as we once did, but the tradition still remains strong. The Hubby, my mom, my sister, and I went down to Orlando for a family wedding a couple of months ago and stopped at my Aunt Jan’s for a quick change. When we arrived, she was standing in the kitchen creating Red Velvet whoopee pies from Gma’s recipe. Of course I had to snag a bit, which led to a discussion on how much I LOVE this cake.  Let me just tell you we were almost late to that wedding because we all instantly fell into visit mode. Funny how a food and some simple memories can take you away and make you lose all track of time.

Red Velvet cake is actually a pretty hotly debated dish down here in The South. First there’s buttermilk VS vinegar (really?! Who wants vinegar in their cake? Bleh!). Then there’s the question on how to color it – most just toss in a bottle of red food coloring, but some recipes say to use beet juice (have you ever tried to juice a beet? lol). There is also some crazy rumor going around, that Red Velvet is simply chocolate cake colored red. Nope, that’s like calling a Carrot Cake a Fruit Cake. Red Velvet is its own unique variety of cake. While there is some cocoa in the recipe, this is def not what I’d be craving if I wanted chocolate.  And finally comes possibly the most important debate, the frosting. Most recipes use Cream Cheese frosting. If you were to give me a slice of Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting on it, we would no longer be friends (I’m kidding of course…. Nope - not kidding. We’re done – over. Don’t even talk to me.) ;) There are a small fraction of recipes that call for a special mystery frosting. It’s unlike any frosting you’ve ever had. It actually starts with a roux (pronounced 'roo' like a kangaroo)of sorts. Once the roux has cooled you add regular sugar and butter and shortening and somehow it comes out this fluffy smooth cloud of tastiness. There is nothing quite like it. Now, I’m well aware that part of my love for this cake is the memories attached to it. But give it a try, and I bet you find a new love and start building memories around this recipe yourself.

Grandma Sims’ Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

Frosting

1 ½ Cups Milk

6 Tb Flour

My copy of my mom's copy of Grandma's recipe :)

1 Cup Butter

½ Cup Shortening

1 ½ Cups Sugar (NOT Powdered Sugar)

1 ½ ts vanilla extract

Cake

½ Cup Butter

¼ Cup Shortening

1 ½ Cups Sugar

3 Eggs

1 Bottle Red Food Coloring

2 Tb Cocoa Powder

2 ½ Cups Flour

1 ts Baking Soda

1 ts Salt

1 Cup Buttermilk

2 Tb Vanilla

Directions:

Frosting: Warm milk in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir continuously until thick (really thick - like pudding).  Cool completely. Start on cake while waiting for mixture to cool. 

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar together in mixer. Add eggs and mix well.  Stir cocoa and food coloring together in a small bowl (I use a custard dish – the smaller the bowl the easier it is to mix). Add cocoa mixture to butter mixture and mix well. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add buttermilk and flour alternating between the two – starting and ending with the flour. (I start with a scant cup of flour, then ½ the buttermilk, another scant cup of flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and then the remaining flour.) Add vanilla.

Bake as either 3 – 9” layers or 30 cupcakes for about 25 minutes. Cool in pan for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.  If you’re milk and flour mixture has cooled, work on your frosting while the cakes are baking. 

Frosting:  Put butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl and cream until fluffy. Add cooled flour mixture and beat for about a minute stopping a couple of times to scrape down the bowl.

Once your cake is cooled and your frosting is ready to go – assemble and frost as usual. 

Cupcakes!

BONUS :)

How do you know when cakes are done? This is going to sound a little crazy, but I actually listen to them. (Yes, yes, you may now commence with the cupcake whisperer jokes.) When it's time to check, pull the cake out and listen. It sounds a lot like the carbonation when you first pour a coke. If it’s really fast, your cake still needs a few minutes. After another minute or two and check it again. You want the bubbly sound to slow down, but not go away completely. Once you’ve done it a few times you’ll start to get an idea how much longer it needs according to how much bubbly it’s making.

What are your family’s favorite heirloom recipes?