Hey Bob E. Lish...here is one that I got off the internet but used for a friend back in Minnesota whose favorite cake was Red Velvet Cake, and he always liked it. If you want, I'll come tutor you in the proper handling of red food coloring and sharing of excess frosting, and we can...go get the camera and take pictures of the cake for all the nice people out there to see. Yeah...that's it! ;-) This one has a frosting recipe already with it. And you thought I was just another pretty face. Ha! Red Velvet Cake 1/2 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons cocoa 4 tablespoons red food coloring 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk 2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar Grease two 9 inch round pans (I'd probably use the spray now, probably used cocoa over the grease back then (as I did for dark cakes), haven't made this since I came to California). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar well. Add eggs and beat well. Make a paste of cocoa and red food coloring. Add to creamed mixture. Mix salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla and buttermilk together. Add alternately the flour with the milk mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix soda and vinegar (it does this cool bubbly thing when you mix the soda and vinegar, so you're forewarned and won't freak and accidentally knock over the bottle of food coloring!). Fold into cake batter, don't beat or stir now. Bake for 30 minutes. Icing 5 tablespoons all purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 cup white sugar 1 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Cook 5 tablespoons flour and milk over low heat til thick, stirring constantly. Let cool thoroughly! While cooling, cream 1 cup sugar, 1 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat this well til light and flufy. Add to flour mixture and beat until spreading consistency. Ice cooled cake.

This is fantastic! I have a white cake mix I bought last week for it and spaced out the cool whip.DH and I both love this! Coconut Poke Cake Ingredients * 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix * 1 (14 ounce) can cream of coconut * 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk * 1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed * 1 (8 ounce) package flaked coconut Directions Prepare and bake white cake mix according to package directions. Remove cake from oven. While still hot, using a utility fork, poke holes all over the top of the cake. Mix cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the still hot cake. Let cake cool completely then frost with the whipped topping and top with the flaked coconut. Keep cake refrigerated.

Is your oven temperature uneven (hot spots?)or not the right temp? Test the cake with a tester or toothpick near the center 5-10 minutes earlier than a recipe calls for. It should come out clean without crumbs sticking to it. You can use a regular chocolate frosting with this if you prefer as I do: DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE W/WHITE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING 2 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate 1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 1/3 cups buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 325° with the shelf positioned in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Line two 9" lightly greased & floured cake pans w/circles of parchment. (You can dust the pans w/cocoa instead if you like.) Whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg & baking soda & set aside. Melt the choclate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Remove the chocolate from the heat & stir until smooth. Let cool. Cream the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, stopping the mixer to scrape the bowl & beaters several times. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour mixture & buttermilk alternated to the batter, beginning & ending w/the flour mixture & mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla & cooled chocolate, blending just until the color is even. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Smooth the batter level, then spread it slightly from the center toward the edges of the pan so that the cake will rise evenly. Bake 35-45 minutes or until the top is lightly springy to the touch & a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the layers from the pan & cool completely on wire racks. Prepare the frosting. Center 1 of the cake layers on a serving plate & cover w/frosting. Place the 2nd later on top & frost the top & sides of the cake w/the remaining frosting. (Put the top of the layers upside down on the platter so the bottom is on top in case the cake "domes" a bit. You'll have a nice flat surface that way.)~~ WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM 6 TBL heavy cream 4 oz white chocolate, chopped fine 1/4 cup creme de cacao 1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened 1 lb confectioners' sugar (4 cups) Cream the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate & stir until completely smooth. Stir creme de cacao into the white chocolate into the white chocolate mixture. Col, stirring occasionally. Cream the butter in a large bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar & beat 5 minutes until light & fluffy. Add the white chocolate mixture to the butter mixture gradually, beating at low speed until the desired ocnsistency is reached. Decorate with dark chocolate shavings.~~Save the Brandywine Valley

I like to bake, so I like to bake pretty much any of the cakes. I do not consider cheesecake a cake, and I don't particularly like it, but I bake them for Elery regularly as they are favorite of his. I also do not consider Boston Cream Pie to be pie, and it is the cake The Princess asked for on her birthday, so i gladly made it. We all ate it, so it must have been OK. I also made a Tres Leches cake for my birthday a year or so ago, and although it was kind of soggy, I thought it was good, as was the Italian Cream Cake I made for Elery at Christmas. It's not as much fun for me to make "plain" cakes, but Ashley likes Texas Sheet Cake, and Madi and Maci both like "vanilla cake". Amanda is celiac, of course, so she just wants gluten free lemon bars, LOL. I do have a weakness for moist chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache, but it just takes a tiny bit to be enough, it's so rich. Annie