This is not something you will see from me often. Cakes and sweets are really not my thing and not typically found in my diet. But – today is my birthday and I’m craving my favorite cake so I thought I would share with you. This recipe is from my mom. I’m not sure where she found this other than while she was living in Texas. It’s not too difficult – mine won’t be the prettiest as I’m NOT a baker, but as long as it tastes good that’s all we really care about in this house.
We start with 2 cups of flour (sifted) and 2 cups of sugar. Add in 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tsp of ground cloves and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add 1 cup of oil, 1 tsp of vanilla, 3 eggs, 1 tsp of red food coloring (or a touch more for the deeper red color) and 2 jars of baby food. The original recipe calls for baby food plums. I cannot find those for the life of me so really any fruit will do. This time I used apples. Beat all of the ingredients together well in stand mixer or with a hand mixer.
Next, grease and flour your pan. I always use a bundt pan for this and I feel the deeper groves in your pan the better. My mom always taught me to use crisco with a paper towel. Wipe the entire pan and then dump some flour in and shake it over the sink or trash until there is just a very light coating. You don’t want too much flour or it will stick to your cake, yet you want the entire pan covered so that your cake comes out in one nice piece.
Pour your batter into the pan and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.
While your cake is baking, make the icing. I use a mixture of powdered sugar, lemon juice and red food coloring. You just have to play with the amounts until the consistency is where you want it. You want it to be pretty thick, but just able to drizzle over the warm cake. I’d start with about 1.5 cups of powered sugar to 1/2-1 lemon (depending on how juicy) or you can use store bought lemon juice if you don’t have lemons. And then the food coloring just until it’s red enough for your liking – remembering this will thin your icing as well. I usually have to keep adding more sugar, etc.
I use the toothpick test to see that my cake is done – if you put a toothpick in the middle, it should come out pretty clean. Give it a few minutes to cool before flipping onto your cake stand or plate.
Now while the cake is still warm, drizzle your icing over and let it melt down the sides. I like a lot of icing!
Red Skin Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour sifted
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground gloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp red food coloring approx (or more)
- 2 jars baby food (plums or other fruit like apples)
Instructions
- Sift together all dry ingredients through the salt.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and beat well.
3. Optional (add 1 cup chopped pecans)4. Grease and flour pan and pour mixture in.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.
6. While baking, make the icing mixture of powdered sugar, lemon juice and red food coloring (until just thick enough to drizzle over hot cake)7. Wait just a few minutes, until cool enough to handle and flip the cake onto stand or plate and drizzle icing on top while still warm.
*if not serving right away, wait until cake is cooled to cover, or your icing will continue to melt more as the steam will collect inside your cover.
