Recipes from Grandmary/Roa -- Red Velvet (Cup)Cake

Since is is so close to Valentine's Day, I thought I would try out some Red Velvet cupcakes to show my love, once again, for the I.T. boys.

This is also a two-pronged Grandma recipe: Grandma Roa loved Red Velvet Cake. I remember that Grandmary/Mom always seemed to make one for Roa's birthday, back when we still lived in Utah.

Here's the recipe from Grandmary's box:

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tblspn cocoa
2 oz. red food coloring
1 tspn salt
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 shifted flour
1 tsp vinegar

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs. Made this paste of cocoa and food coloring. Add to cream mixture. Mix salt and vanilla in buttermilk. Add flour to cream mixture. Mix soda in vinegar. Alternate with flour. Fold in soda and vinegar to mixture.

38 inch cake pans. [three 8 inch pans]
30 minutes at 350 degrees.

After working my way through recipes for a year, I could tell just by looking at this that there are some things seriously mixed up in the directions. Plus, I think it should read three 8 inch pans, because it was always a layer cake. We lived at a much higher elevation in Utah -- and this recipe does not note that on the card.

So, I consulted some other cookbooks and internet sites to double check things. I also don't own circular cake pans, so from the outset these were destined to be cupcakes.

The closest recipe to the one above is the Joy of Baking Red Velvet Cake (found here).
Here's my/their edits to the above:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 1/2 shifted flour
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

In separate bowl, shift together salt, flour, and cocoa until well mixed. Set aside.
Cream butter until soft. Add in sugar, beat until well mixed. Add in eggs, beat well, and then add vanilla.

Mix buttermilk and food coloring.

Alternately add milk/food coloring and flour to sugar mixture, until well combined.

In separate bowl, add soda and vinegar and allow to fizz. Then beat into cake batter.

350 degrees for about 20-23 minutes.
About 2 dozen cupcakes.

After well cooled, frost with white buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

Another note: I used some of the ancient food coloring that I got from Grandmary's move - and I mean ancient. Glass jars, vintage labels, companies that don't exist anymore, the food coloring in the jars had evaporated into bricks at the bottle of the glass, kind of ancient. I added water to the jars and let them sit for a bit. Aside from getting food coloring everywhere, this method of salvaging the dye didn't seem to harm the batter (or me) any.