DUE SOUTH

The Southern Tradition of Red Velvet Cake

WORDS BY RONDA RICH

I

It took a Southern guy living in Hollywood to open my eyes to the importance of red velvet cake to the South. Particularly for holidays.

Until Joe taught me the gospel of red velvet cake, I was like Paul on the Road to Damascus. I was blinded but the scales fell from my eyes.

Joe LoCicero left his native Georgia to move to Hollywood. He was attracted by the bright lights and the industry, but instead of landing in front of the cameras, he became a much beloved publicist at Paramount.

He was a joyous spirit. A friend of mine was friends with his brother, a prominent doctor, and he suggested that I meet Joe when I was in L.A. I was standing outside the door leading into the Dr. Phil studio for a taping. Around the time he was due to arrive, I saw a cute, dark-headed guy running up the hill and waving wildly. We were friends instantly. After the taping of the Dr. Phil show — where he made sure that I was placed correctly to be on camera — he took me over to the set of Entertainment Tonight.

His enthusiasm was contagious and it was obvious that he was loved very much.

“Now, when you come back, you have to come to our house for dinner.”

Joe and his wife had bought an ordinary cottage and turned it into an adorable Craftsman. Though he had married a non-Southerner, he taught her Southern decorating and celebrating. In that cozy cottage, their two small children bounced around while Joe laughed happily. He wanted to write books, so I helped him as best I could. Through the introduction to another friend in Mississippi, he began to write a monthly column about the South’s celebration of life.

When his first book was published, I was there for the party where Joe’s exuberance bounced off the walls. He wandered among the merriment, reminding the guests, “You must have the red velvet cake. It’s glorious!” It was a sunny, pleasant, summer day when the phone rang. It was Joe’s same sweet voice but the tone was somber.

“Do you have a second to talk?” he asked. I sat down on the back porch and listened. At 37, he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This began regular calls where he talked, then we prayed together.

The months of survival were short before Joe’s laughter died. His wife decided to host a celebration of his life in a theater on the Paramount lot. Joe was a lifelong lover of television sitcoms, which run for 24 minutes before the commercials are thrown in. A video of Joe’s life ran for 24 minutes.

The centerpiece of the reception was luscious red velvet cupcakes. My tears turned into a smile. Joe celebrated with red velvet cake and his final remembrance was decorated with the yummy cake.

Not long ago, Tink and I were on St. Simons and our friend, Edward, insisted that we dine at Fiddlers. Tink calls it, “My new favorite place.”

Amy Williams Baldwin, one of the owners, popped by the table to speak to us. We had just ordered the scrumptious key lime pie which, hands down, is the best I’ve ever had.

“You should taste my red velvet cake sometime,” she remarked.

While she rarely makes cakes for Fiddlers, she does the red velvet cakes by special order. As a co-owner of a sandwich shop for 14 ½ years, she often served cakes and cookies.

“In my family, we didn’t really do cakes for holidays except my grandmother had a delicious fudge sheet cake,” Amy explained. “But the red velvet cake is so Christmasy and is special for the holidays.”

A red velvet cake was the first layer cake I learned to make. I was about 14. The second one was German chocolate. Mama, known for her yellow layer cakes with a seven-minute boiled chocolate icing, never made red velvet or German chocolate so they became my signatures. Then, I moved on to a coconut cake that is scrumptious.

After the conversation with Amy, I remembered back to that first cake when I

was 14 and how proud I was of it. Then, I recalled all the time and labor it took. It’s a luscious cake but it is not one to make leisurely.

So, the next time I’m on the island, I’ll order one from Amy. Meanwhile, she was kind enough to share her recipe. Here’s a tip: Amy and I both agree that most icing recipes are too thin. Her recommendation is to make this icing one and a half times the recipe.

My recommendation? Double it. You can never have too much icing.

Fiddler’s Red Velvet Cake

INGREDIENTS 3 cups sugar 3 cups oil (like vegetable or canola, not olive oil or anything with flavor) 2 Tbsp of vinegar (red wine but anything works except balsamic) 1 Tbsp vanilla 4 eggs Mix all of this together

Sift together 4 ½ cups of flour ½ cup cocoa 2 tsp soda 1 tsp of salt

Add the dry mix alternately with 2 cups of buttermilk beginning and ending with the dry mix.

Add 2 tablespoons of red food coloring. Bake at 325-350 degrees depending on the oven for about 30 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean. Let the cake cool for a while (overnight if possible).

ICING INGREDIENTS 2 cups cream cheese ½ to 1 cup of butter 2 boxes of powdered sugar A splash of vanilla (1 Tbsp)

You can toss a spoon full of Crisco instead of butter if you want a more stable icing.

Ronda Rich

THE WEDDING BOWL

The H. Shadron Wedding Bowl customized for the Perfect Wedding Gift, at The Tabby House.

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Happy Thanksgiving, neighbors.

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