Friday, August 19, 2011

Grandma's Red Velvet Cake

I grew up in a very tight-knit family where we spent every holiday together and my sister and I spent almost every weekend at our grandparent's house. I became very close to my grandmother over the years and, of course, she was everything a grandmother should be: warm, loving, fun, a great baker, a great cook, selfless, hard-working, energetic and more. She passed away a few years ago, but I have only the most wonderful memories of her. She was an amazing woman and I admired her so much, especially her ability to bring the family together with her cooking. Every Sunday after church we had lunch at her house. It was more of a feast actually as in about an hour the table would be filled with all sorts of food, hot and ready to eat. And of course there were desserts on stand-by for afterward. Usually a pecan pie or homemade ice cream, but other times we would get a cake and if it was a red velvet cake, the crowd would go wild.

I have a cookbook from the school where my grandmother used to work and after looking it through it for recipe ideas, I discovered my grandmothers very own red velvet cake recipe! I had to make it ASAP and I did indeed. It wasn't as good as my grandma used to make, but I did what I could and it was still delicious. =) Besides, nobody can bake as good as grandma, right?

If you want the best red velvet cake recipe ever, read on:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. cocoa
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. vinegar
2 eggs
1 oz. red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. Add other ingredients in order. Mix for 2 minutes. Bake in greased and floured pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

Here's what my cakes looked like with I pulled them out of the oven. Nice and red! You could do this as a sheet cake, but I wanted a round cake to take to a family event.


After the cakes finished cooking, I started working on the icing. Once again I used my grandmother's recipe. What goes better with red velvet cake than cream cheese icing? That's right, nothing.

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick margarine
1 box confectionery sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Blend together cream cheese and margarine until smooth. Gradually add box of confectionery sugar and vanilla while blending.


I did a crumb coat first and then iced the cake. My grandmother usually garnished the cake with slivered almonds, but I was lazy. =) haha.


It was still a hit at the family gathering though so that's good. Yay for grandma and her recipes!

7 comments:

Meredith said...

Your cake looks delicious Morgan! I'm glad you came across your grandma's recipe - it's amazing the things we don't think to ask about until it's too late. I'm sure she would have been quite proud to see how your beautiful cake turned out!

Susan R said...

That cake is a thing of beauty as was this post.
Grandparents (grandmother's especially) are such an important part of our lives aren't they?
Your grandmother sounds just like mine. My grandma was more like my mother, but we were best friends too and she could cook like no one else.
I have wanted to try red velvet cake for ages, I've never had it. Does it have a specific flavor, or is all about the color? I'll try your grandmother's recipe. I hope I do the recipe and your grandmother justice.
By the way...IKEA finally opened near me. I'M SO HAPPY! It's awesome.

The Atwoods said...

YUM! This looks amazing. I LOVE red velvet cake!!!!

claire said...

looks amazing- SO red! i would LOVE to make this soon.

Red Door Home said...

I had never tried red velvet cake until a few weeks ago. My sister came to visit and brought a bunch of cupcakes from a bakery. I tried it and loved it! Thanks for the recipe.

Lacie @ Creative Attempts said...

I just printed this out and I can't wait to make it thank you so much

Angie@Echoes of Laughter said...

Hi Morgan! Thank you so much for visting me and leaving such a sweet comment! I have never made a red velvet cake before, so you have just inspired me to try one! I love baking projects! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Angie xo