Red Velvet Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Cake
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 (1 ounce) bottles red food coloring
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup egg white
1 tablespoon egg white
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup egg white, unbeaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F Grease & lightly flour two 9\" cake pans.
Combine sifted flour & salt; set aside.
Put cocoa in small bowl. Gradually add food coloring, stirring until smooth. Set aside.
With electric mixer at medium speed, cream together shortening & sugar. Beating 5 minutes until fluffy. (Do not shorten shortening/sugar creaming time!).
Gradually add egg whites, beating for at least 30 seconds after each addition.
With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk & vanilla, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.
Add cocoa mixture. Blend well by hand. Do not beat.
In small bowl, hand mix vinegar w/ baking soda. Stir briefly to mix, and then fold into cake batter. Do not beat.
Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick tests done.
To make frosting: Combine sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved & mixture is syrupy.
While beating with electric mixer, gradually add syrup to unbeaten egg whites in mixing bowl. Do not stop beating until stiff peaks form (about 7 minutes). Beat in vanilla.
Allow cake layers to cool on rack 10 minutes before turning out, and let cool completely before frosting.