Hi! I decided to make a red velvet cake as a present. I like the taste of this cake, but I don't know if they will like me adding the red color. So my question is: Can I make the cake without adding the red color? Thank you very much for all your tips!

Certainly. The food color doesn't add any flavor. Just call it Velvet Cake!

there is a red velvet you can make using beets for the color. Also there are "natural" colors you can find online. If you don't use color the cake has an anemic coloring to it, since it is not really a chocolate cake and has too much chocolate to be a yellow cake it ends up being a weird sort of light reddish (from the reaction of the cocoa to the vinegar) brownish color. You could try to find a concentrated color so you could use less. The color that I get from GFS requires about a tablespoon for 3 -9" layers. You may just decide to do another flavor-since red velvet without the red is just an almost chocolate buttermilk cake. A good portion of how something tastes comes from its looks and smell as well as what happens on the taste buds.

Hmmm ... didn't know about the brownish color. My problem is that in my country is difficult to find even regular red color, natural colors are impossible to find here. I could order it from the UK but shipping is to high. The other problem is that this cake is not so popular here and I don't know how people would react to it (even if I put beets). I adore the taste and don't mind the color, but people here avoid putting too much color or premade ingredients (ex. frosting) to cakes. We still do it all homemade But thank you for your kind reply

I've done it without the color because I just love the soft hint of cocoa without making it a chocolate cake. Just (like msulli10 said) call it "velvet".

I don't like the coloring either.

Or, you don't have to use a lot of the coloring if you want to, just a little. Pink Cake Box makes a Pink Velvet cake, with just a tiny bit of the red coloring.

http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/qa-pink-velvet-2007-09-25.htm

Thank you msulli10 and imagenthatnj Maybe making a pink velvet cake is not a bad idea at all. I will try and let you know

the beets do not really change the flavor (I have made a beet cake before, just not in the red velvet), beets are one of the sources of sugar (cane being the other). They do make it moister and a bit sweeter. Here is a blog in which she used beets to make the cake

http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2009/05/cant-beet-red-velvet-cupcakes.html