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It's supposed to be red. Very red. Otherwise it's just a sort-of-chocolatey cake.

Gates, Oklahoma Joe's in the gas station at 47th & Mission on the Johnson County/Wyandotte line, the original Arthur Bryant's, and Jack Stack would be good places to start.

I actually have a wall at work where we put our favorite fortune cookies...

"Come back later, I'm sleeping (yes, fortune cookies need their sleep too)"

"A crab wonton a day keeps the doctor away" - we have two of those

"42.7 percent of all statics are made up on the spot"

and my personal favorite: "Never smell the inside of a hat"

Sorry I forgot this last night! As I recall, 8' or 9" cake pans work fine. Here's the recipe from my friend's grandmother:

RED VELVET CAKE:

Grease 2 flour pans and preheat oven to 350°.

2 oz. red food coloring
3 tablespoons cocoa

- Mix together and set aside.

1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

- Cream well and add to cocoa mixture.

2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
1 cup buttermilk

- Add to mixture, alternating flour and buttermilk.
- Also add:

1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

- Now, combine and hand-mix into batter *while still fizzing*:

1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

- Pour into 2 greased and floured cake pans and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

COOKED WHITE ICING:

Whisk 4 1/2 tablespoons flour into 1 cup milk, stirring over low heat until thick. Set aside to cool.

Beat 1/2 lb. of softened butter for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar, beat 4 more minutes. Add flour paste and 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat 4 more minutes. Don't beat for less than 12 minutes total or my grandmother will be turning in her grave.

This icing gets nice and stiff when cooled in the fridge.

Megnut, there's some history on snopes.com, in a report on urban legends like the Neiman Marcus cookie. Long before that tale started circulating, red velvet cake spawned a similar legend under the name Waldorf Astoria Cake. There also was a long thread about its history in the Southern culture section of egullet a little while back. The cake is popular in the South for sure (nothing that sweet would stay out of the South for long!), but I've seen no definitive proof of where it originated.

Red velvet cake entry from Wikipedia. There's some more information there, including a reference to its popularity in Canada and the possible substitution of boiled beets for coloring effect. No definitive word on if it's Southern in origin, but it's popular in that region for sure.

Uh, really? I had never heard of it until a Southern friend asked me to make it for her wedding cake. Then she gave me her family's traditional recipe. Since I'd never heard of the cake before that, I believed her. Perhaps some more research is in order.