Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been promising this recipe for a long time, and I just wanted to share with you the reason why it hasn’t yet made it here.

When you look through all the red velvet recipes on the internet, what do you see? A dark red, moist looking cake base. Unfortunately I’m missing the “dark red” part. In the beginning, I used your regular store-bought Queens food colouring and got a very bright fluorescent pinky red. That was alright with me, but I started wanting that really dark red. I’ve since changed to Wilton paste colours but unfortunately still have the same problem.

Here’s the suggestions I’m yet to try:

- Use cochineal colour as part or a complete replacement
- Add a teaspoon of cocoa (I have actually already done this, but it doesn’t help yet)
- Mix the red colouring with the cocoa to create a smooth, dark red paste and add as normal
- Mix the cochineal colouring with the cocoa as above
- A bit of everything

I’m going to try the last one.

I think it’s more of a case that I don’t want to add too much colour (I get the impression I’d need to add quite a bit :S), and because I know that red food colouring can make some people a bit crazy temporarily I don’t want to induce too much of that either. Although, I think the sugar in them does enough of a job on its own, really.

They still taste delicious, but it’s all about presentation for me as well, and I need to see at least some kind of darker, more prominent red, rather than halfway there. The ones below which are the latest creation, they are slightly red. I am almost now starting to think that a real red will also put some people off – my partner mentioned to me that he was a bit unsure of eating a red cake!

When I finally nut out this recipe, you’ll all be the first to know.