To be honest, I haven't ever been a fan of Red Velvet anything. Why? Because I kind of hate Red 40. And by kind of, I mean, I avoid eating Red M&Ms, Skittles, and ANY sort of Red drink. In fact, the only thing I consciously eat that contains Red 40 are Swedish Fishies, and every time I'm eating them, I think to myself about how I am going to contact the company and see if I can buy an entire batch that does not contain Red 40. (Do you think they'd do it?) But I digress.
So, when the Whoopie Pie came up, I cringed at the thought. All week I was planning on buying India Tree Natural Red food dye, but didn't order from Amazon in time, and the local stores didn't have any. So...I almost just passed on this one. But then, as I was reading the description of Red Velvet in the recipe book, I learned that the original Red Velvet didn't have obscene amounts of Red food dye, but rather was named for the reaction of the Cocoa to the acidic or alkaline ingredients in the cake, casting a reddish hue on the cake. It was only after it was named that people decided to "Boost" the red with artificial color. Ahhhh, at last, a solution!!
I made the pies, sans Red 40, and added some freeze dried strawberry powder (Freeze Dried Strawberries that I threw in the food processor) to the Cream Cheese Frosting for a little "Valentines-ey" feel. Seth and I ate them last night for the end of our "Valentines Day-Before party" and they were delicious! I liked the cake texture of the pies, and appreciated a healthy dose of frosting between the layers--because we all know the cake-to-frosting ratio should get as close to 1:1 as possible, right? Right.
As an added touch after I took the pictures, I placed diced strawberries all around the edges in the frosting for a festive and tasty touch! I wish I would have taken pictures of that, they were adorable!
Recipe Link
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