the incredible watermelon cake

what's summer without watermelon . . . cake

it's the incredible watermelon cake from the good old southern living southern heritage cakes cookbook. isn't it scary? note chocolate chips in the role of watermelon seeds - we thought that would be better than the raisins the recipe called for. but I promise that's the only thing about the recipe that I changed, except using butter instead of margarine. well, and making it in three eight-inch pans instead of two nine-inch pans. but really, that's all.

the icing was the weirdest icing recipe I have ever used. it actually has a good bit of flour in it, and you cook the flour, sugar, a ton of butter and some evaporated milk for quite a while til it forms a big shiny semi-translucent mass to which you add a bunch of green food coloring. it's pretty creepy in a lot of ways - it reminds me a lot of the green slime product we worked on a galoob toys, but tastes a lot better and is easier to control.

last bite - want some?
and by the way, no watermelons were harmed in the making of this cake - it is only a nice butter cake artificially colored red, and an eerie green buttery icing.

we took a piece over to kaye, and also a slice of watermelon for comparison purposes. see how hard it is to tell the difference?

have you had fun with your food today?

here's the actual recipe. you'll notice that it's put together like a magic spell or something - all the weird steps. but it comes out well, so I guess I can't argue. it just seems like the mixing method could be streamlined.

**red watermelon cake**
from the southern living southern heritage cakes cookbook, oxmoor house 1983
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter) 1-1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 3 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon red food coloring 1 tablespoon cocoa 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk 1-1/2 TEASPOONS vinegar 1 TEASPOON baking soda 1 cup raisins (I used chocolate chips) Frosting (recipe follows) cream shortening; gradually add sugar, beating well. add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. combine water, red food coloring, and cocoa (I just dumped them all into the bowl - why make a bigger mess?); add to creamed mixture, beating well. combine flour and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. combine vinegar and soda, stirring well; stir into batter. fold raisins into batter. pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans (I used 3 greased and wax-paper-bottomed, greased again, no flour, 8-inch pans). bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes (for the 9-inch pans; my 8-inch ones cooked in a slightly shorter time) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely. spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake. frosting: 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 cup evaporated milk 1 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 10 drops green food coloring combine flour, sugar, evaporated milk and butter in a medium-sized heavy saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 20 minutes or until thickened (and believe me, this isn't one of those recipes where "thickened" is a matter of any question). stir in the vanilla and green food coloring. cool.