Red velvet food coloring

[RainyRiver]

My recipe calls for 1/4 tsp of gel food coloring. Can I use liquid instead? If so, how much?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

My recipe calls for 1/4 tsp of gel food coloring. Can I use liquid instead? If so, how much?

This may come as a shock to you, but you will need 2 oz (two 1 oz bottles) of red food coloring for a red velvet cake.

Yes, that is not a typo.
There is no such flavor as “red velvet”.

Rather, the Adams Extract Company wanted to increase sells of both their vanilla extract and red food dye. So they printed a cake recipe that contained both on the back of their vanilla extract package. Since liquid food dye performs very poorly in baked goods, it took a 2 ounces of that crappy food dye and a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder to turn the butter cake red. But that was fine by the Adams Extract Company because the goal was to sell more red dye.

Why anyone would want to bake a cake filled with two bottles of red food dye is beyond me.

 

[Aggie]

Actually there is a product called Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion. It is made by LorAnn Gourmet. It is fantastic. I have seen it at Michael's.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Actually there is a product called Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion. It is made by LorAnn Gourmet. It is fantastic. I have seen it at Michael's.

It’s a totally fake made-up flavor. There is not such thing as red velvet because the cake is not based on anything but red food dye. Look up any red velvet cake recipe and you won’t find a single flavor ingredient that makes “red velvet.” There is not such thing as red velvet.

“Red velvet” is just a typical butter cake with red dye. The measely 1 or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder isn’t enough for cocoa flavor. It’s added to enhance the 2 bottles of red dye. And if the cocoa powder were enough to add flavor, it would be a chocolate cake.

Red just refers to the red dyed color. Velvet is a reference to fine cake texture, referring to the velvet soft texture of fabric. The word velvet for cake dates back to the 19th century. All purpose flour and baking soda only became available in the mid-19th century. Prior to that flour was very coarse and too high in bran and germ content to produce a fine cake texture. Once all purpose flour and baking soda became available, bakers were able to produce cakes with a much softer crumb with a higher rise. So they started referring to these better cakes as velvet cakes. Velvet refers to the texture; it has nothing to do with flavor.

Red food dye is made from an a totally gross scale insect called a cochineal. It is beyond gross.

 

[Aggie]

It’s a totally fake made-up flavor. There is not such thing as red velvet because the cake is not based on anything but red food dye. Look up any red velvet cake recipe and you won’t find a single flavor ingredient that makes “red velvet.” There is not such thing as red velvet.

“Red velvet” is just a typical butter cake with red dye. The measely 1 or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder isn’t enough for cocoa flavor. It’s added to enhance the 2 bottles of red dye. And if the cocoa powder were enough to add flavor, it would be a chocolate cake.

Red just refers to the red dyed color. Velvet is a reference to fine cake texture, referring to the velvet soft texture of fabric. The word velvet for cake dates back to the 19th century. All purpose flour and baking soda only became available in the mid-19th century. Prior to that flour was very coarse and too high in bran and germ content to produce a fine cake texture. Once all purpose flour and baking soda became available, bakers were able to produce cakes with a much softer crumb with a higher rise. So they started referring to these better cakes as velvet cakes. Velvet refers to the texture; it has nothing to do with flavor.

Red food dye is made from an a totally gross scale insect called a cochineal. It is beyond gross.

You are absolutely right
I should have mentioned the same thing in my reply but I was trying to reduce the amount and need for such a largexamount of food colouring
I am totally grossed out about how red food colouring is made
I am a very new member and have joined since I totally adore baking (and cooking). I literally have hundreds of cookbooks and I am passionate about collecting recipes
I am still learning the ropes of this site
Haveca nice day

 

[Norcalbaker59]

You are absolutely right
I should have mentioned the same thing in my reply but I was trying to reduce the amount and need for such a largexamount of food colouring
I am totally grossed out about how red food colouring is made
I am a very new member and have joined since I totally adore baking (and cooking). I literally have hundreds of cookbooks and I am passionate about collecting recipes
I am still learning the ropes of this site
Haveca nice day

No worries. I just wanted to clarify because a lot of people mistakenly believe ”red velvet“ is a flavor.

Also people don’t realize they are eating the guts of a squished scale insect when eating red food dye. We don’t know if eating that bug in large quantities is healthy. I certainly don’t want to eat it, and I’m not gonna feed it to people.

Red food dye is definitely NOT vegan/vegetarian unless it specifically states it is from a vegetable source.

People aren’t aware of the types of bugs, bacterium, molds and such that are used in food. And they should be.