Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here, and Americans all over the country are buying extra large bottles of emerald green food dye. Very soon, cakes, cookies, beverages, eggs, breads, and anything else that will accept the dye will be turned bright green for the holiday!
I love Saint Patrick’s Day as much as anyone else, but I don’t want all my food artificially colored. One reason being that I can often taste the dye. That is why red velvet anything is not on the top of my list to eat, because that red dye tastes horrible!
Pardon me, I seem to have gone off on a tangent. . . back to Saint Patrick’s Day. I dove into my archives to find a few Saint Patrick’s Day recipes I really love. Especially the Chocolate Ale Cake. I suggest you start with that one. Nothing wrong with eating dessert first, right?
Beets, huh? Does the beet flavor transfer, or just the color? I like that you’re using natural coloring!
Cheryl,
I agree on the red dye!
I’ve been experimenting with beets to make a dye-free red velvet, but so far it works best in doughs where the beets hang out with the flour for a long time (I’ve got some “red velvet” cookies that have the right look). I use spinach for most of my green coloring–from pizza dough to Hollandaise sauce it’s my go-to coloring agent.
Your Ruby Rueben looks so delicious I wish I could reach into the screen. Thanks!