Why do we have to put in red food coloring in Red Velvet Cake?!

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I add strawberry jello (the dry powder, not mixed with water) to a strawberry cake I make, and it doesn't change the texture of the cake--but it does give it the flavor of strawberry and it makes the cake pink. Most colored gelatin have flavoring that would not go well with the flavor or red velvet. If you have some gelatin without flavoring, then sure, give it a shot. You would need to use a lot of it because, the small pack that I use for my strawberry cake only makes the cake pink, not red.

Red velvet cake originates at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC. a patron said he would give $100 for the recipe, so the waiter brought out the recipe and a bill for $100! ok, I love that story. the reason we use red dye is because red jell-o alters the texture after baked. I have tried using Jell-o, not a good idea. I don't know why the chef at the Waldorf decided he needed to add red dye to his famous chocolate cake recipe, maybe to stand out from the others?

Because gelatin is what makes jello like a jelly and not a liquid. Gelatin adds an entirely different structure to the cake. Red food colouring is an edible dye. Red food colouring is what makes red gelatin red.

It would ruin your cake to add red gelatin before baking and if you did a poke cake it wouldn't be enough to to give it that nice red color.

that's what makes it red. The only thing the coloring adds is color. Red jello would be a disgusting mess.

you put food coloring in cause the cake is called red velvet cake. that is how u make the cake red.

to make it red. Make it blue. would a blue suede cake be cool?