The Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake

I've always loved this urban legend, which has several incarnations. This is a blurb about the legend, according to The Snopes Urban Legend Pages.

The 1960s saw this tale mutate into a villainization of New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel over a dessert known as "Red Velvet Cake." A woman who'd dined at the hotel later wrote to ask for the recipe. The recipe arrived . . . along with a bill for $350, a bill her lawyer assured her she had to pay. Her way of getting even was -- you guessed it -- to distribute the recipe far and wide.

There are other versions of this story involving Mrs. Fields Cookies and a Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Fudge cake.

I love red velvet cake. Here is a recipe purported to be the one made famous at the Waldorf Astoria. One person who made the cake wrote that it turned out a little dry, and it had a heavy flour taste. I'll keep that in mind if I choose to bake it.

Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet Cake Recipe

* 1/2 cup Shortening
* 1 1/2 cup Sugar
* 2 Eggs
* 2 ounces Red food coloring
* 2 tablespoons Cocoa -- heaping
* 2 1/4 cups Plain flour
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla
* 1 teaspoon Baking soda
* 1 cup Buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon Vinegar
* 1 teaspoon Butter Flavoring (if desired)

***Frosting***
* 3 tablespoons Flour
* 1 cup Butter (Not Margarine- you can tell the difference in the flavor).
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla
* 1 cup Milk
* 1 cup granulated sugar

Cream Shortening, sugar and eggs. Make a paste with coloring and cocoa and add to mixture. Add salt and flour with buttermilk and vanilla. Alternately add soda and vinegar and don't beat- just blend. Bake in two 9-inch pans (greased and floured) for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Layers may be split to make four.

*I imagine you could use a single layer flat pan instead of 2 round ones- I've not done it before.

Frosting:

Cook flour and milk on low heat until thick. Then cool (I put it in the freezer for this.). Cream sugar, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Add to flour-milk mixture. Beat until mixture is like whipped cream. Spread on layers. Sprinkle with nuts if desired (I don't).

*sometimes when we're going to make the frosting, we've been known to double it because it is soooo good!

Recipe URL:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/173/WaldorfAstoria_Red_Velvet_Cake15483.shtml

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Other red velvet cake recipes are here.