Red Velvet Cakie

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 oz. red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs.  Make a paste of cocoa and part of coloring.  Add this and rest of coloring to creamed mixture.  Mix flour and salt and add to batter alternately with buttermilk.  Add vinegar, stir in soda and vanilla.  Mix well.  Bake in two 8 inch cake pans 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool. Split each layer into two layers.  Frost between layers, but do not frost top or sides.  More food coloring may be added if richer coloring is desired.  KEEP REFRIGERATED.  This cake is a specialty at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

Red Velvet Frosting:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Cook milk and flour until thickened.  Cool.  Add milk mixture to sugar and butter mixture, beating constantly.  Add vanilla.

This is Grandma Piotrowski's recipe which we got from Donald's sister, Eileen Seglem.  Joel liked this cake so well he included it in the recipes he had to prepare for Home Ec when he was a freshman in high school.