How to Color Cake Batter


Add a punch of color and fruity flavor to your cake with this vintage recipe.

This recipe appeared in a story for the 50th anniversary of boxed cake mixes. The Color Vision Cake, developed by the Betty Crocker Kitchens, uses the fruit gelatin powder of your choice to create a vibrant color and flavor. Recipe from General Mills.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 (18.25 oz.) package white cake mix
  • 3 tablespoons dry fruit-flavored gelatin powder, reserve remaining powder from 3-oz box.

Frosting:

  • Remaining gelatin powder
  • 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
  • 3 tablespoons canned evaporated milk, or more as needed
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
  2. Grease and flour 2 (8 or 9-inch) round pans, or use cooking spray.
  3. Prepare cake mix as directed on package, except add the 3 tablespoons of dry gelatin with the water. (Reserve remaining gelatin for frosting.) 
  4. Divide batter between pans. 
  5. Bake and cool as directed on package.
  6. Meanwhile make frosting, beat reserved gelatin, butter and evaporated milk in medium bowl on low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. 
  7. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth. 
  8. If necessary, stir in additional evaporated milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable. 
  9. Fill layers and frost side and top of cooled cake with frosting.

Comments (6)

on

Cake mixes are no longer 18 oz. so is the recipe different now?

Please let me know what the recipe is now . Thanks Cindy


on

Uh... I never heard of EITHER of the ingredients... Perhaps this recipe is a classic example of one which should be labelled 'USA ONLY'. 

on

What ingredients?  If you're talking about dry fruit gelatin powder, I believe they are referring to flavored jello which comes in a 3 oz box.

on

Why would you even need to do that when you can just add food coloring of your choice...I would think the jello would make the cake sweeter as well as the frosting doing that...

on

Most bakers in the UK don't use cake mix, I think that's what suzyg4 is referring to. I would just use the equivalent scratch recipe for Victoria Sponge, amounts enough for 8 or 9" sandwich tins. I'm off to see if I can find 'jello' or equivalent in 3oz box, I've only seen it in individual sachets here. Willing to try anything new, but usually use Lakeland concentrated flavours and Wilton colouring with great results to be honest. I have substituted Nesquik for some of the icing sugar content of buttercream before now to add flavour though :-)