How to Make Red Velvet Cake Without the Cake Baking Brown

Red velvet cake is a beloved Southern confection as misunderstood as a Southern accent. To achieve the vibrant red color, many cooks add copious amounts of red food coloring to their cake batter. True red velvet cake contains cocoa and, depending on the quantity used, the batter can turn to a dark reddish brown color. Before the days of food coloring, red velvet cake got its color from the chemical reaction that occurred between the cocoa, a leavener and an acid, such as buttermilk. The original color was much darker than the modern-day, artificially colored cakes. Achieving a truly red cake requires a bit of creativity and ingredient substitution.

Things You'll Need

Natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
Fresh beets
Food processor
Buttermilk

Yogurt
Raspberry juice
White vinegar
Lemon juice

Instructions

Add natural cocoa powder to your red velvet cake batter. Dutch-processed cocoa powder has less acidity than natural cocoa powder due to the potassium solution used to wash the cocoa beans. The acidity contributes to the famous red color of the red velvet cake, so decreasing the acidity using Dutch-processed cocoa causes the cake to bake more brown than red.
Make beet puree by roasting fresh beets for 40 to 60 minutes in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven. Peel the beets once they've cooled and puree them in a food processor until smooth. Add a generous spoonful of beet puree to the batter in place of food coloring for an intense red color without the potential dangers of food dye. Play around with the amount of beet puree used to achieve your desired results.
Add equal parts of buttermilk, yogurt and raspberry juice to increase the acidity of the batter for a brighter red color, and to help disguise the flavor of the beet puree. For every 2.5 cups of cake flour, use 1.5 cups total of these liquid ingredients to achieve the proper moisture level. You may use these ingredients in any combination as long as the total volume adds up to 1.5 cups of liquid. The same applies for the vinegar and lemon juice. Add white vinegar and lemon juice in equal parts to the batter for additional acidity to keep the cake bright. A combined total of 4 tablespoons of extra acidity in the batter is enough to give the right color without altering the taste of the cake.

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