Before you read the recipe and get carried away <G>, some questions: What's "Silk brand cake flour"? or its UK equivalent? Is Crisco a kind of fat? what kind? is there a UK equiv.? And what volume is a cup? or what weights are a cup of flour, a cup of shortening, and a cup of sugar?
DD1 sent me the recipe, but she hasn't got the answers, and the girl who sent it to her doesn't know any UK equivalents. Thanks in advance, Margery. ============================================ [EMAIL PROTECTED] in North Herts, UK ============================================ Red Velvet Cake 2 1/2 cups Silk Brand Cake Flour 1 teaspoon Salt 3 tablespoons Cocoa 4 Tablespoons Red food coloring, OR use Wilton brand Dark Red Icing dye if you want a gothic dark red when mixing with cocoa. Will be lighter once stirred into batter �1/2 cup Crisco or other vegetable shortening 1-�1/2 cups Sugar 2 Large Eggs 1 cup Buttermilk (sour cream is a good substitute too) 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon White vinegar 1 teaspoon Baking soda Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. (I've made this in round cake pans for a layered cake, your basic flat sheet cake, and a square cake, it's all good.) Combine the flour and salt, and set aside. Put the cocoa in a small glass bowl, and add the food coloring gradually, stirring until mixture is smooth. Set aside. Cream together the shortening and sugar, beating for 4 or 5 minutes at medium speed in your electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for at least 30 seconds after each addition. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the cocoa/food coloring mixture, mixing until color of batter is uniform. (if it's not a dark red, pull out a small amount of batter and add more dye, then stir back into the cake. Your cake might be slightly swirly, but it'll still be fab) Do not overbeat; overbeaten cake batter will result in a tough cake. Turn off your mixer. In a small bowl, mix the vinegar with the baking soda. It will foam up. Stir it briefly to mix, and then add it to the cake batter, folding it in to incorporate well, but do not beat. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, and bake in a 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow layers to cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out. Let cake cool completely before frosting. Red Velvet Cake Tips DO NOT FUTZ WITH THIS RECIPE. Don't substitute low fat, diet, wimpy anything into it! The whole point of red velvet cake is to treat yourself to decadence! My mother tried making one and cut down stuff to be less rich and it came out as a BRICK. I s**t you not, I took it outside and dropped it and it shattered like a brick. Suck up it and enjoy something with calories in it for a change. Don't be tempted to shorten the shortening/sugar creaming time. This is part of what makes the cake so extraordinarily smooth. Also don't substitute regular flour for the Silk Brand Cake Flour...it is also part of what makes this cake the way it is. Mixing the cocoa with the food coloring is the best way to get even color in the cake. If you try to sift the cocoa into the flour and add the food coloring to the batter you will probably wind up with cocoa swirls in your cake, which doesn't suck....but it's not as smooth tasting. Yes, red food coloring does stain, so use glass items, something disposable, or red plastic :) Lay down newspapers on the floor, the counter, yourself....etc. And be careful. Frosting: 2 packages cream cheese (3 oz. each), softened 6 Tbl. butter, softened 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups sifted powered sugar Blend all ingredients until smooth. Chill slightly, slather on cake with a trowel. ============================================ [EMAIL PROTECTED] in North Herts, UK ============================================ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
