choosing a red food color for red velvet cake
Are there any tell tell signs to choosing a red food colouring for red velvet cakes. Having just whipped one up, mine is sadly brown despite a bottle and half (45ml) of red food colouring.
Also can too much colouring affect the final colour the same as too little colouring?
Best Answer
Originally, red chocolate cake did not have artificial coloring. The red (not nearly as red as we're used to now) came from natural (not Dutch processed) cocoa (acidic), plus another acidic ingredient (buttermilk or vinegar). The double-dose of acid reacts with the anthocyanins (antioxidants that are red, even more so in the presence of acid) in the cocoa and the alkali baking soda to create a subtle reddish tone.
Try an old-style recipe, with natural cocoa and additional acid. Then if you must make your cake redder, it shouldn't take a bottle and a half of #40 red. Dutch processed cocoa will not give you the red effect, and it will cause your cake to be much darker. The flavor will be fine, but it won't be red and it will be difficult to dye red. Using dye to color a very dark brown (think Devil's Food) cake is going to require (as you have apparently seen), A LOT of dye. There comes a point that you're just going to cause anyone who eats the cake with their hands to have red fingers.
As far as your cake with a bottle and a half of food coloring? I'd quit trying to achieve a redder tone. You may or may not be able to taste the color in the cake, but you're going to see bright red tongues and possibly other weirdness.
This is an article about the chemistry of red chocolate and red velvet cakes: Chenected
Oh, and there is no such thing as too little artificial coloring for the sake of flavor, you can even skip it entirely. Your cake won't be as red, but it will taste just fine.
The unrelated addition of “red” to a chocolate cake’s name initially arose due to the chemical reaction of acid in unsweetened bar chocolate and natural (non-alkalized) cocoa powder in conjunction with an acidic liquid (generally buttermilk or sour milk) with an alkali (baking soda), which reveals the red anthocyanin, a water-soluble vacuolar pigment. (In contrast, chocolate cakes made with baking powder and a non-acidic liquid turn out blackish in color.) Near the beginning of the 20th century, these chocolate cakes became known as “red cake,” “red regal cake,” “red feather [as in light-as-a-feather] cake,” “feather devil’s food cake,” and “red devil’s food cake.” However, their slightly reddish-dark brown hue was quite different from and much duller than food coloring-enhanced red velvet. - Tory Avey History of American cakes
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Quick Answer about "choosing a red food color for red velvet cake"
Try an old-style recipe, with natural cocoa and additional acid. Then if you must make your cake redder, it shouldn't take a bottle and a half of #40 red. Dutch processed cocoa will not give you the red effect, and it will cause your cake to be much darker.What food coloring is best for red velvet cake?
Red velvet cake wouldn't be red without food coloring. I recommend gel food coloring because the color is concentrated, so you need less of it. For natural coloring, use beet powder. If you don't want to use food coloring, leave it out!Which red colour is best for red velvet?
I was in search of a perfect food coloring that is good for exact red colour in red velvet cake or cupcakes. I am so happy I found it and this is Sugarflair Red Extra.Can you use red food colouring for red velvet cake?
You can use whichever red food coloring you have! Gel food coloring is more concentrated than liquid so you don't have to use as much, but liquid food coloring is fine too.What colouring is used in red velvet cake?
Traditional recipes do not use food coloring, with the red color due to non-Dutched, anthocyanin-rich cocoa. Common ingredients include buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar, and flour. Beetroot or red food coloring may be used for the color.WHY DOES YOUR RED VELVET CAKE TURN OUT BROWN ??
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