I need help! I mad the Mac's Mom red velvet cake recipe tonight and it's not red! I added two jars of Wilton Red color and the cake seemed red before baking and now it just looks like chocolate. I used the Wilton No-taste red because I didn't want my cake to have that off taste. Do you think that made a difference?

It's a sheet cake and I still need to bake the other layer and at this point I am thinking about scrapping the whole thing and starting over.

Any suggestions? Can I add more red color without affecting the texture of the cake or the taste? I've never made a red velvet cake before so any suggestions would me appreciated.

When I made it before, it wasn't as red as I thought it would be, but the people I was making it for thought it was red enough.

Wilton colours are rubbish for red and black, I found that out recently -_-

You need to use americolor (sugarflair for the UK) or similar.

Thanks Lisa, I don't have time to order anything else at this point. Do you think making it over and adding more red would help?

If you are going to still use the Wilton Red, I wouldn't remake as you will use so much (expensive) colours that it wouldn't be worth it.

I would put it down to experience this time and then experiment once you can get hold of some Americolor

I agree that Americolor is better than Wilton.

Also, I thought the red color came from the reaction of the vinegar and the buttermilk. So it wouldn't seem that a WASC recipe would work. IDK.

Don't scrap it. I made it before for a wedding shower at work. No one cared that it wasn't bright red. They thought it was absolutely delicious and i got LOTS of compliments on it. Carry on with the cake, i think you will be pleased wtih the flavor.

Thanks gang. So you think I should just make the second layer the same and serve as is? I don't want to disappoint. There are three cakes. One Chocolate, on White and one red velvet. I was hoping that next to the other two the red velvet would look redder.

LOL

I just made my first batch of red velvet this week and I used the 2 oz bottle of the red food coloring you get at the grocery store...not Wilton. Could it be because you used Wilton? Or did the recipe call for Wilton? (sorry...I haven't looked at that recipe)

I think you would be wise to go ahead and serve your cake. I was disappointed in the color of mine also, and entered the room making excuses for it, BUT my co-workers really enjoyed it, and it makes a TON of cake batter, so the cake was really tall and made a great presentation once decorated. It's very moist and has a good flavor. I've tried a few scratch recipes and have not achieved the moistness I got from the WASC version.

I would do the second layer the same.

The red is, theoretically, supposed to happen due to the reaction between the acids and the cocoa, but as DeeDlightful says even scratch recipes call for coloring and I always add red to mine. I just use the red color from GFS for this, it is very red and cheap and does not alter the taste.

I made this cake recently and it had a pleasant red color and flavor. The eaters seemed to enjoy it a lot. (It's the first red velvet cake I've made or eaten do I don't know how it compares in taste to others.) You might consider this for your second layer or if you start over.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7573/red-velvet-redux-easy-durable

I found this recipe online if you want to give it a go, looks really red:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Red-Velvet-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

Well at least it tastes good! I used the red velvet recipe out of the Cake Doctor book and it came out really red...and it was only 1 bottle of food coloring. And it was very tastey if I must say so myself

Thanks Kids! You're the BEST! If I survive this weekend I'll be a happy camper. I have 3 sheet cakes for a wedding, a Birthday party cake for 50 and a Christening cake. I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed

Thanks Lisa and Kara, I would be afraid to try a 2nd recipe for the 2nd layer. Either I make the 2nd the same or scrap the whole thing and start with a new recipe. What to do what to do.

Personally, I would do the 2nd layer the same as the first, and experiment with new recipes with smaller cakes which are for family or for yourself as a taste test.

Don't scrap it as I'm sure it'll taste great and your customers will be pleased

Thanks Dee and Lisa.

I just used a WASC (wasn't macsmom though)

it was Kakeladi's, I used a DH red velvet cake mix..and no extra coloring and it was bright red

If you can't get ahold of americolor...try finding the Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix