Christmas Baking Time - A Sure Favorite and a Bit of History

                                                

                                                    Red Velvet Cake.

Now where in the world did Red Velvet Cake come from? Some say it was an invention by a chef at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel  but what about the recipe's from old southern cookbooks dating back to the mid 1800's?  Many a church "cook book" contained recipe's for 'Velvet Cake", some red, some silver and some gold so the origins seem to be a mystery. 

Perhaps it all began when John A. Adams came along. His family-owned food colorings and extracts business had fared well since its inception in 1888. But housewives of the Great Depression had little use for his brand of frivolity and sales slumped. So he began setting up displays in groceries throughout the Midwest and parts of the South. These featured Adams Extract Company products under a huge color photo of the reddest Red Velvet cake ever seen. A free copy of the recipe (modified to include Adams Best Vanilla, Adams Butter Flavor, and two bottles of Adams Red Color) came with every purchase. In the austere climate of the day, Red Velvet became a sensation.

Over the years, Adams' entrepreneurial gambit took on a life of its own. That Red Velvet recipe circulated widely throughout the Midwest and South, reprinted in regional newspapers and evolving as each editor embellished it in tiny ways. By 1972, James Beard discussed three recipes for Red Velvet in American Cookery. All three featured shortening and dye. Given that Adams swapped butter for shortening in his recipe as an excuse to bolster sales of Butter Flavor, the family resemblance seems clear.

What started as an innocent ploy to sell some food coloring has turned into a gross game of one-upmanship as bakers vie to achieve the reddest of reds; as if redness alone defined the cake and not a fine crumb and the rich taste of cocoa and brown sugar. On the other hand, dye deniers, oblivious to Adams' influence, have reconnected elaborate back-stories involving World War Two, thrifty bakers deprived of sugar, and beet juice. I can count my responses to these stories on one hand. With one finger, in fact. Care to guess which one?

Well, there you have it, a brief history of the Red Velvet Cake. The mystery remains unsolved but the cake is even more popular today than in yesteryear.

It is one of the most "made" cakes at Christmas time and so without delay I offer you the Original Red Velvet Cake Recipe by Betty Adams of the Adams Extract Company.

1 Tsp soda

1 cup of buttermilk

1 tblsp vinegar

1/2 cup shortening

1-1/2 cups of sugar

2 eggs

1tsp "Adams Best" Vanilla- of course any brand of Vanilla will do but I am being true to the recipe.

2 1/2 bottles Adams Red Color

3 tblsp cocoa

2-1/2 cups of sifted  (cake)flour 

1 tsp salt

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and flavors.

In a separate bowl make a paste of cocoa and food coloring; add this to first mixture.

Alternately add flour and buttermilk

Mix soda and vinegar in small bowl ; add to batter.

Blend all ingredients together.

Bake in 3 9 or 10 inch pans for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool completely before frosting. ( Frosting recipe follows below)

There are two kinds of frosting but I use the cooked frosting rather than the non-cooked. I will  give the cooked first followed by the non-cooked.

3tblsp Flour            
1 cup Milk
1 cup Shortening

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Sugar

2 tsp Adams Best Vanilla; again use your favorite vanilla

1/4 tsp Adams Butter Flavor

Cook milk, flour, salt until thick, stirring constantly. Let cool

Cream shortening and sugar very well and add flavors.

Combine to first mixture and beat well until thoroughly blended.

Apply to cooled cake starting with the bottom layer and working upward. Finish off with applying to sides of cake. At least that is the way I do it. :D

NO COOK ICING

No-Cook Icing

 1 cup sugar

 1 cup shortening

 2 tsp "Adams Best" Vanilla

 1/4 tsp Adams Butter Flavor

 1/2 tsp salt

 1 cup of Milk (appx)

Sift confectioners' sugar. Blend 1/2 of the sugar with the shortening, flavors and salt.

Alternately add the rest of the sugar and enough milk for smooth spreading icing. 

There you have it. Now bake one and impress all of your friends and family. You can also tell the story of the cake for those with an interest in history of cooking and folklore while sipping a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon,(A rich red wine with red fruit mixed with spice) or perhaps a

Madeira which is a sweet wine with a hint of caramel, almonds, & hazelnuts.  Either way, Cheers and enjoy the Cake.