Happy Birthday, Sam

I should be baking a Red Velvet Cake today because it was Sam's all time most requested favorite birthday cake. Sunday, August 26 should be Sam's birthday, he would be 62.

Birthdays have always been a big deal to me. I love the celebration, the cake, buying and wrapping the presents, taking the pictures, the surprise and the wonder of it all. Celebrating the great gift of the birthday person in my life is the very best part.

During my growing up years, birthday cake was always a frosted, decorated angel food cake, lovingly made by my Mom. After all, we had chickens on our farm therefore there were plenty of eggs, so Angel Food cake was just the ticket. She always cut a cardboard circle from the empty powdered sugar box to cover the hole in the middle of the cake.  We always ate the cake for dessert after a delicious supper with the menu chosen by the birthday celebrant. This is an epic photo of, I think, my 8th birthday and that's my cute little sister, Karla in the high chair and most likely we had fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.

So, this year we have to somehow celebrate the gift of having had Sam in our lives even though the empty space in our family will be huge.

Back to the Red Velvet . . . 

The first time I asked Sam what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday he promptly answered, "Red Velvet." Wonderful! I had a recipe for this cake and I liked it, too! I first made it when I was in high school and during my college years my mom had copied the recipe and mailed it to me when I had asked for it. So, way back in the mid 70's I pulled out this recipe and first made it for Sam.

I am so very glad to have this recipe written in my mom's handwriting. You can see it has been used many times!

Once in a while we deviated from the Red Velvet but not often. I sometimes got a wild idea and Sam gave me permission to make something different. 

He was seemed happy with my version of this Watermelon Cake. Actually, he was happy to have his cute little girls on his lap. I think this was the year Sam turned 41. 

This next photo was one of Sam's birthday cakes, too, but made by Rachel in 2009. She decided she wanted to dabble with fondant. Researcher that she is, she found a recipe, read reviews and called on our favorite professional cake baker to come give her a little help. Here's what she came up with . . . very cool, huh?

Rachel's happy birthday White Cake

It wasn't Red Velvet, but Sam loved it!

Back to the Red Velvet once again . . .

Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake

1/2 c. shortening

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt

1 c. buttermilk

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vinegar

2 oz. red food coloring

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to above. Mix salt and vanilla with milk. Add alternately with flour. Mix soda and vinegar. Fold into mixture; do not beat. bake in 2 round 9 inch pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Icing

5 Tbsp. flour

1 c. milk

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Cook flour and milk to stiff paste. Let cool completely. Cream butter, sugar, & vanilla. Add dto paste and beat until it looks like whipped cream.

There you have it! The original recipe and directions, but here's a few notes from the teacher in me . . .

Before you begin, preheat the oven and prep the pans. My favorite method is to cut a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan by penciling around the pan and cutting just inside the line. Lightly spray the top of the paper, just a little. Pans are ready!

Cream -- Put these ingredients in your mixer and beat the dickens out of it, till it is light and fluffy.

Use cake flour for the very best results, but I have also done this with all purpose and with a mixture of the two and all make a good cake. Just be sure to sift the flour! I usually sift the salt with the flour instead of mixing it with the milk. That just makes more sense to me.

Add alternately -- Gently stir or mix in about 1/3 of the sifted flour (just eye ball it), then gently stir in about 1/2 of the milk/vanilla. Repeat, then end with the last 1/3 of the flour. Just remember, start and end with flour, mixing as little as possible.

Fold -- Use rubber spatula and a gentle down across the bottom and up and over motion. Turn the bowl and repeat until you can't see streaks of the soda and vinegar. Just remember, gently!

Cake is done when you poke the center with a toothpick and it comes out with just a few crumbs of cake. It might come out clean, shouldn't have any wet batter.

Let the cake sit in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove cakes from pans by running a knife around the edge to loosen then put another rack on top of cake and flip the whole business over upside down. Gently lift off the pan and don't move the cake until it is cool. 

When you get ready to layer the cakes, slice the top dome shape off of the bottom layer to keep it flat. I will let you figure out what to do with that piece you cut off. You can imagine what I always did with it and it did not involve the waste basket!

Do not judge the frosting by the ingredients! Just remember, this is sometimes food, not every day food. I can not imagine who dreamed up this recipe and thought it might taste good, but it does! I don't think a slice or two of this cake at birthday time can clog one's arteries in an instant. Moderation is key!

Stir constantly while cooking the flour and milk. Using a whisk will prevent lumps, but you will get a blob in the center of your whisk. Start with the whisk and part way through trade it for a wooden spoon. Let this cool to room temperature before proceeding.

Beat the butter and sugar till very light and fluffy before adding the paste then beat it till you think it is done, then beat it some more. You want this so light that you can't feel the grains of sugar at all. You want silky smooth, not gritty.

When you get this cake done, have a party, call some friends, share it. DO NOT EAT IT ALL YOURSELF!

Sam's Red Velvet birthday cake 2010, his 60th birthday.

We celebrated Sam's 61st birthday, last year, about a week early, before Rachel left for her last year at Knox. Sam was able to request crab legs and steak along with the Red Velvet and that's what we had. Sam and I left for our first trip to Duke University's brain tumor center two days before his birthday, on the first day of school my first year of retirement. Sam was very sick. On his birthday he received the chemo treatment that brought him nearly instant relief and later that same day we flew home. It wasn't the easiest travel with 3 flights on chemo day but we were being chased by the hurricane Irene. 

He continued to improve in the days and weeks to come. This treatment bought him enough time that we really had some great months together. I have considered that trip to Duke to be one of the best birthday gifts of Sam's life. It was a miracle. I wish it could have lasted longer, but it was a blessing, indeed!

I will celebrate Sam's life with Abby, Rachel and Kyle. We plan to enjoy a meal (always!) and a visit to a cupcake shop where we can each choose our own "birthday cupcake". We might also play some mini golf; Sam would love that!

We continue to adjust and heal as we continue to miss Sam. Writing about Sam is healing for me, so thanks for reading. 

Isaiah 41:13 ~ For I the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Do not fear, I will help you."