White Velvet Cake and “That’s the Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had”

I have a serious sweet tooth. Like, I think it’s a problem. So, when I’m asked to bring something (and even when I’m not asked….I still offer!) I will always volunteer for the sweet stuff! Last Sunday, I went to Madison to see Kim and do some crafting. Kimmie made us lunch, so of course it was completely necessary that I bring a dessert, right? Clearly.

A couple weekends ago, Grandma Joyce gave me a cookbook made by the women of her church over the past 100 years. Immediately, the White Velvet Cake caught my eye. Almond extract was listed as an ingredient and almond extract is my weakness. The only time I’ve used it previously is in the sugar cookie dough my mom always used for Christmas. I’d honestly rather eat the batch of refrigerated dough than make the dang cookies. Spritz’s are also a Christmas favorite of mine, for the exact same reason: almond. Mmm Mm Mm.

Courtesy of Mrs. Howard Wolfe, I bring you a darn good recipe for White Velvet Cake. Of course, it didn’t have a frosting coupled with it, so I went on an internet search for a frosting recipe. The Google search of “white velvet cake frosting” mostly returned red velvet cake with white frosting recipes and white chocolate frosting recipes. I guess white velvet cake isn’t so famous. It should be.

I came across a real gem. It’s literally called “That’s The Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had.” And it really is, the best flippin’ frosting I’ve ever had. I will likely never make a different frosting again. It is the strangest recipe, it has flour for goodness sakes! And, it didn’t call for powdered sugar, it called for granulated sugar. Wait, what? But, gee whiz, it really knocked my socks off. Glad I went against my initial reaction of “ew, gross” and went out on a limb with this one!

White Velvet Cake

1/2 c shortening
3 egg whites
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c flour
1 c milk

Mix shortening, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg whites in large bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients, blend, add milk, beat. Pour into two 8” greased pans. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Honestly, I didn’t sift my dry ingredients. “Ain’t nobody got time fo that.” I think it turned out just as well. And I baked it for only 20 minutes and it was still a bit over-cooked. Then again, my oven is so inconsistent. But, that’s quite a significant difference, so I’d maybe set the timer for 20 minutes to start with and check on it.

That’s The Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had

I found this recipe on Two Delighted, but the original is from Tasty Kitchen. The original makes a vanilla flavored frosting, but Two Delighted made it almond. Excellent choice. I can imagine you could stick any flavor your little heart desired into it.

5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk*
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in almond.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left.** Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/almond mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

*Two Delighted specified to use whole milk, I had 1%. After it wasn’t thickening after a few minutes, I dumped it and used the half and half I had in the refrigerator. Worked for me!

**Honestly, mine was still quite grainy. I beat the bee-jeezus out of it. With both a hand mixer and my Kitchen Aid mixer. For like 20 minutes. Still grainy. After adding the milk mixture, I beat them together for 10 minutes and it was no longer grainy at all. So, I’d say not to be concerned if you can’t get it un-grainy. Though, I would still beat it for a significant amount of time!

I added some food coloring so it was pink! Mother Nature is having an identity crisis in Wisconsin, so I’m doing all I can to think Spring!