| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mad Typist |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 5:08:41 PM
I was asked to make a Red Velvet cake for my niece's 18th B-Day last week and was horrified to discover it called for 4 TBS! (you read that right!) of red food color. Has anyone ever used anything natural for red velvet - i.e. beet juice, etc. - with any luck? I'm thinking red velvet might go over well @ the farmer's market this summer but I refuse to use that amount of red dye!
Savor Happy Accidents... |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - May 21 2009 : 6:55:21 PM
From my experience with fabric dyes, I think that beets basically make brown - you get a red/purple color from onionskins?
Although I can't think how a cake made with onionskins would taste... Yuck
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
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| MissDotty |
Posted - May 21 2009 : 11:39:53 AM
Ummm....as much as I'm all for the fun with food chemistry, I'd like to see someone site a source that says "Red Velvet Cake" was originally made without red food dye.
I've never found a recipe for a truly red cake that can be proven to predate recipes with food dye and there is a problem with the chemistry: Natural Cocoa powder plus an acid ingredient (like, for example, Amish friendship bread starter) and baked into a cake is as likely to turn GREEN as it is to turn red. (Yes I've turned several loaves of chocolate Amish friendship bread green).
While natural cocoa powder itself has a reddish hue (this is also where Devil's Food cake gets it's name), there is no evidence that "red velvet cake" has ever not contained a colorant. While it is true that cocoa does contain anthocyanins (the red pigment also found in red cabbage and red wine) and that anthocyanins do turn red in the presence of an acid, the processing of cocoa beans into cocoa powder of any type involves a fermentation process which reduces these compounds and also concentrates others which react differently to heat and acid and produce different colors.
I have seen several recipes that use beets though, if you'd like to try that instead of food dye. I have attempted several of the recipes claiming to make a naturally red cake, and as I have mentioned the science is flawed. While small amounts of red food dye may have been introduced to Devils Food and other chocolate cake recipes after the introduction of Dutched cocoa powder to attempt to replicate the original red-brown hue of natural cocoa powder, "Red Velvet Cake" as it is now known contains so little cocoa (the average recipe if it contains cocoa at all, contains only 1/4 cup) that there is no hope of using the cocoa as the sole colorant, even if the color results were consistent.
Incidentally, I did a science fair project on this subject when I was in grade school. |
| Mad Typist |
Posted - May 20 2009 : 4:05:31 PM
Thank you so much, girls - I really appreciate the feedback (sorry it's taken so long for a response)! I have seen that natural food coloring - at the health food store where I worked - but it WAS pricy, even with the employee discount! That'd be a pretty expensive cake to retail! Good luck w/ your grandmother's cake - I'm sure it'll be delicious!
Savor Happy Accidents... |
| GreenMeAlison |
Posted - May 19 2009 : 07:51:30 AM
Hershey has a non-alkalized cocoa powder and the only difference I noted in the two (that they sell at my local grocery store) is the non-alkalized is cheaper! Also, I can confirm what Alee says, as I've been baking vegan (using soy milk and vinegar to mimic buttermilk, and using non-alkalized cocoa and my cake comes out with a reddish hue!
Also, you might try India tree food colors, although they are pricey (at about $20 for the package with red/pink, yellow & blue). And around here only found at Whole Foods, although you can order them online through Amazon and other retailers. Good luck -- I'll be pulling of the same feat for my grandmother's birthday in a few weeks!
Alison
Suburban tree hugger with three hearts: one on the farm, one in the city, and one in the woods!
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| Alee |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 5:50:28 PM
Originally, Red Velvet cake had no food coloring...this addition is relatively recent. When it was first invented, the cake got it's color from a reaction between the cocoa powder, and the acidic ingredients (cider vinegar and buttermilk). This only works with "natural" cocoas...Dutched cocoa is alkalized, so it doesn't have the same reaction.
Here is a recipe you can try:
* 3 1/3 cups cake flour
* 1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
* 2 1/4 cups of sugar
* 3 eggs at room temperature
* 2 ounces of red food coloring (6 tablespoons)
* 1/2 cup of unsweetened *natural* cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Prepare three 9 inch round pans or two 9 x 13 inch square pans by coating the pans with butter and then dusting with flour.
3. You should line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper but this is not entirely necessary.
4. Sift together the flour and salt.
5. Using your standing mixer, set to a medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
6. Add the vanilla.
7. Add the eggs one at a time making sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.
8. Mix together the cocoa powder and the red food coloring together.
9. Add the cocoa mixture to the batter.
10. Reduce the mixers speed to low.
11. Add half the butter milk. Wait until the buttermilk is completely incorporated.
12. Add half the flour. Wait until the flour is completely incorporated.
13. Add the rest of the butter milk. Wait until the buttermilk is completely incorporated.
14. Add the rest of the flour.
15. Mix together the baking soda and vinegar.
16. Mix until well combined.
17. Pour the batter into the pans.
18. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
19. Cool the cake in the pans for 15 minutes or until cool to the touch.
20. Remove the cakes from the pans and continue to let them cool for at least one hour.
The cake definitely comes out with red tones, but it is not the brilliant red of some modern adaptations.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
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