Conference turris::cooks

    
    	One year I made chocolate chip cookies and formed them
    into the words "I Love You" or if he or she has a short name
    you could spell out the name. I found a big piece of cardboard
    and lined it with parchment or white paper, placed the cookies
    on the cardboard and wrapped it well in saran wrap. I put a
    bow on the wrapping and it was a smash!

    You might try the chocolate notes file - some yummy ideas there!
    Or, if you're going with cake, instead of buying a heart-shaped
    pan that will only get used once a year, put the batter in one 8
    inch round pan and one 8 inch square pan.  When cool, cut the round
    one in half and put each cut edge up against a side of the square
    - this will make an impressive size heart shaped cake even if only one layer
    - then just go crazy with icing and curly-ques!

    This is an *unusual* recipe.  The rumor is that it was invented and
    served at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.  If you're squeamish
    about the coloring, maybe someone out there knows of an 
    acceptable substitute...?                      
                             
    
    			RED VELVET CAKE
    
    1/2 cup shortening			1 cup buttermilk
    1 1/2 cups sugar                    1 tsp. vanilla
    2 eggs                              1 Tbsp. vinegar
    4 ounces red food coloring          1 Tsp. baking soda
    2 Tbsp. cocoa                       2 1/4 cups flour
    1 Tsp. salt                                         
    
    Sift flour 3 times.  Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy.  Add
    eggs and beat 1 minute.  In a separate bowl, blend cocoa and coloring
    into a paste.  Add to shortening and sugar.  Add salt.  Mix vanilla
    and buttermilk, and add slowly to shortening and sugar mixture,
    alternately with the flour.  Blend vinegar and soda and mix into
    batter.  Do not beat.  Pour into 2 9-inch greased layer pans.  Bake
    at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  When cold, cut each layer with
    a thread to make 4 layers.  Frost with:
    
    				Creamy Frosting
    
    Mix 1 cup milk with 5 Tbsp. flour.  Cook several minutes until thick.
    Cool and chill in refrigerator.  Beat 1 cup margarine, 1 cup
    confectioner's sugar and 1 Tsp. vanilla until creamy.  Add flour
    mixture a little at a time by spoonful until blended and fluffy.
      
       
    

    re.3
    Am I to assume that you mean 4oz liquid coloring?.. I use paste
    coloring, would you know the equivelent measure?...

    Re .4, yes, the coloring used is the liquid coloring.  I'm not sure
    of the equivalent measure in paste - try 1/4 cup?

    I was delighted to find the Red Velvet Cake recipe in .3, because
    I loved this cake when I was growing up in Maryland and haven't
    been able to find the recipe until now.  It tasted like I remembered,
    and it was very, very RED!!
    
    However, I had major problems with the icing.  Instead of being
    fluffy, mine came out runny.  It really looked awful - little bits
    of the butter/vanilla mixture suspended in floury liquid.  It tasted
    right, but you couldn't put it on a cake!  I tried it twice thinking
    I messed up the proportion of ingredients or something.  What did
    I do wrong?  Should I have cooked the flour/milk mixture longer?
    Perhaps beating it with an electric mixer wasn't the right thing
    to do?  I'd really like to make this cake again, with the correct
    icing!  Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
    
    Linda                    

    I'm by no means a cooking expert and I haven't made this recipe
    in almost a decade but as I recall I used to have the same problem.
    There were two main areas where I tended to go wrong:
    
    	1) My hand got tired of stirring so I quit cooking the milk
    	   before it was done.  This should be boiled (low boil) slowly
    	   until it has the consistancy of hot pudding (try not covering
	   it when you put it in the fridge).
    
    	2) The other thing I used to do wrong is not blend the sugar
           vanilla and butter enough.  This should be a very smooth
    	   homogenous mixture before you add the milk/flour mixture.
    
    I don't know if this was the problem but I hope it helps.
    
    Mike

    There's another topic on Red Velvet Cake (867.0), and the frosting
    recipe in .1 appears to be identical to the one you tried, but this
    one calls for superfine sugar (bar sugar), not confectioner's.  That 
    could be your problem.  I tried that frosting recipe and it came out 
    great.
      
    

    A thing to keep in mind about superfine vs confectioner's sugar:
    superfine is just that; confectioner's sugar, on the other hand,
    has corn starch added to keep it powdered.  The corn starch may
    affect the icing.
    
    					andrew

    but it fits the Valentine's Day theme -
    
    My mom would bake a cake using one round pan and one square pan;
    8" and 8" or 9" and 9".  Cut the round one in half and place each
    half next to the square one on adjacent sides.  It makes a heart
    shaped cake that I think looks better than those heart-shaped pans.
    
    TW

    Has anyone tried 513.3 (Red Velvet Cake)? I just wondered how it
    tastes. It has some cocoa in it, but does it give the cake a chocolate
    flavor or does it taste like a white cake? I'm planning to try it this
    weekend, just thought I'd prepare myself, tho 8-).
    
    Thanks,
    ~beth

    Yes, I have made the red velvet cake several times. It is very
    different. My husband likes it because he grew up with it. I personally
    don't think that it will win any awards.
    
    Some of the things that feel kind of weird to me when I make it (and
    this might be why I don't get as excited about it as he does) is:
    
    - You dump an *entire* bottle of red food coloring in the cake mix
    - You use shortening as the main ingredient for the icing
    - There's a little chemical experiment with vinegar and baking soda (I think
    that's the combo)
    
    To me, it doesn't taste like chocolate cake, but it also doesn't taste like
    a plain white cake. It is very moist.
    
    Overall, the cake is a bit of work, but give it a try. You might really
    like it. 
    

    Just one bottle of food coloring?  I guess I've never found a 4 oz
    bottle.  I have made it a few times but usually with a different
    frosting.
    
    ed