Itsy Bitsy Foodies

As popular as red velvet cake (and red velvet everything) has become, I don’t remember ever having red velvet cake as a kid.  I do, however, have a vivid childhood memory of gasping with girlish delight as they cut into the armadillo cake in the movie Steel Magnolias.  I guess ever since then I’ve had red velvet cake on my mental baking list.  But my attitude toward artificially-dyed foods has changed quite a bit since those days and now every time that I pull out a red velvet recipe, I gasp with utter disgust at the thought of 1/4 cup or more of artificial red food coloring in my cake.  When I started experimenting with natural food dyes a couple of years ago, and especially after I made my naturally-dyed rainbow cake, I vowed to never make an artificially-colored red velvet cake.

Red velvet cake is interesting because it is technically a chocolate cake (although the amount of cocoa powder is minimal compared to the amount of chocolate in other chocolate cake recipes).  Depending on the recipe (amount of food coloring, the pH ratios in the ingredients, etc.), the color of the cake can range anywhere from a brilliant red to a brownish red.  {Though it wouldn’t technically be red velvet, if you want a red cake but don’t want the chocolate, you could simply use the same beet dye in your favorite white or pound cake.}

In this first attempt, I started with the easiest solution and simply substituted beet juice for the red food coloring.  My family devoured them (even without the frosting).  However, if you are looking for a true red, know that these ended up more on the brownish-red end of the spectrum.  Next on my list will be to use pureed beets and play with the pH a bit more to try to achieve a more vibrant red (such as this beautiful cake over on Sophistimom).

Happy Valentine’s Day!