I have a tasting tomorrow and the bride has specifically asked to taste red velvet cake. I was thinking of making cupcakes; some red and some pink to see if she might like that also...

The recipe calls for a 1oz bottle of liquid food colour. If subbing with gel colour (Americolor), how much should I use? (I have not made RV cake before, so am not familiar with what colour the batter should be).

Thx.

I just made some using 1/2 tsp gel color, it's not quite as red as using the liquid (I posted a pic on my blog - putacupcakeinit.blogspot.com of the differences in color)- you can see the difference of the two.

I use about a tbsp Americolor and I get a very strong, bright red. I dissolve it in the buttermilk.

I use the "no taste red " from Wiltons it gives a real nice dark red.

Thank you for your responses.

A little bit of Americolor goes a long way! I just add the color until it's the right shade.

with using all that coloring, will the color bleed through the icing? my friend just went to a wedding where the red bled through the frosting. this friend has asked me to do her wedding cake and originally wanted red velvet, but is afraid to do it as she doesn't want fondant. i've never worked with real red velvet, so i had no clue what to tell her

Well, I made the cupcakes. I added about 2tsp of Americolor, and YUP -they're pretty red! It looks and tastes ok, I guess. I don't really get the whole red velvet thing personally....

Tubbs, what recipe did you use? and did you like it?

I used Chef Stef's recipe, from this site. I followed the receipe except I added 2 TBS cocoa, rather than the 1 TSP called for in the receipe (that didn't sound enough to make any impact, and all the other recipes I found called for 2 TBS).

They were ok - like I say, I don't really get what the big deal is with red velvet. My bride and groom liked them though. They were kind of dark red rather than the very bright red that you see sometimes (maybe that extra cocoa...?)

I don't get the whole Red Velvet thing. I have tried recipe after recipe and well, maybe it just isn't something that I like. I tried yet another recipe this past week. I did a small amount of batter and baked one 7" layer. And.....I forgot to add the vanilla! AHHHHHHHH! but in any event, I actually like the taste and texture of this one the best so far (even without the vanilla). I used the recipe in Melissa Gray's "All Cakes Considered". Mind you, I still don't like red velvet..but this one seems the best to me so far.

The extra cocoa makes it darker. Some recipes call for less and some call for more, just depends on how much you put in. I use 2 tbsp of cocoa so it makes it that nice rich deep red. But it's very good!

I really don't care for red velvet but there are lots of people who love it. I've tried a few recipes but the one that everyone loves is Rachel Cheatwood's recipe. That's the only one that I get a lot of orders for.

I have a recipe that I would be glad to give you to try if you want it or to see if it's the same. Ours has been used for years in our family and is well liked. I've also used it for a few cake orders and has been a big hit.