Comfort Food & Cake Recipe

My life continues to have too much drama in it, but it's nice to be able to fall back into traditions and things that comfort.
That's what I thought today as I pulled out a well-worn recipe for Buttercup Cake.

It's a recipe that my Aunt Ruby makes. Aunt Ruby is well into her 80s. She has lost her husband and she doesn't remember things the way she used to, but she still makes a delicious cake. We call it red cake rather than the official title of Buttercup Cake.
At the last family reunion, she said she wished she had kept track of the number of red cakes she has baked throughout the years. In addition to family reunions, she makes them for birthdays and funerals and church functions.
I made a red cake today to celebrate Spencer's 21st birthday. Since the recipe is so stained and faded, I figured I should make a copy. I'm sharing it here on my blog, so I'll always be able to find it.
Buttercup Cake
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of shortening (I used butter)
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup of buttermilk (I use milk with a tsp. of vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla
red food coloring

Cream the shortening and the sugar until fluffy. Blend in well-beaten eggs. Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Then stir into the batter in parts with the buttermilk. Add vanilla and food coloring. Bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes. Makes 2 layers

Fluffy Icing
1/4 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1 stick of soft butter
1/2 cup of shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
I used butter in place of the shortening, so one cup of butter replaced the butter and shortening steps.
Mix and cook the flour and milk until thick, stirring constantly. Let cool. Then beat with a mixer for one minute. Add remaining ingredients. Whip until the texture of whipped cream. Spread on cake.

I consider myself a pretty good baker, but I'm not good at layer cakes. They might taste good, but they never look good.

Aunt Ruby's recipe calls for shortening. I use butter instead, which worked fine for the cake. In keeping with the name, it requires red food coloring. I didn't have a lot, so my cake ended up being a little more pink than red.

Spencer was getting ready to go to a friend's house, so I rushed the icing, not waiting long enough for it to cool. It kind of dripped off the cake.
I wouldn't have taken it to a family reunion, but it did taste good as we all ate slices to celebrate Spencer's final step into adulthood.