[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Inquiring minds want to know: violet pudding

[Amanda Lewanski]

Warning. Long. Mystril has asked something in my realm of expertise and
devout avocation.

mystril at yahoo.com wrote:

> So, did she just make normal pound cake and add some red and blue food
> coloring? That is so incredibly cool.

No, where food color is concerned (and most kids' watercolor sets) you
won't get purple if you mix red and blue. She and my dad made sculpted
cakes, and had a full range of the paste colors. She added purple paste
color.

My dad used the paste colors and developed an arcane formula involving a
dab of color, some vinegar or something, and water, to make Easter egg
dye that beats the pants of the little fizzy-pill type. *Lovely* deep
purples and royal blues!

Now that I'm all grown and sculpt my own cakes, I've tried the powdered
colors, too, and they're very good, too. I have also taught heraldry by
making loads of my great-grandmother's rollout cookie recipe, coloring
it the seven heraldic tinctures, making cookies with divided fields and
such, and using them as incentive. You had to blazon a cookie to get it.

And Mom did a Valentine's party one time, and colored the pimiento
cheese spread pink (with red paste color), did deviled eggs with pink
filling (same method), and had a pink layer cake. I often end up
coloring the cake of my kids' birthday cakes. [I believe paste color was
involved in my dad's green eggs and ham, too, but that occurred when I
was about three and I don't remember much about its creation.]

The point is, you can color just about anything you eat, without
affecting the taste or consistency, *if* you use paste color. If you use
typical liquid food color, especially if you're after red, you end up
adding so much you thin stuff down or it tastes funny.

> I can't wait for the weather to cool off a little more, so I can try
> it.

While the weather's still hot, make some ice cream, color it blue, and
put marshmallow cream in it--we called it "blue sky." Caveat: don't, if
you have small children, forget what they've eaten and make the mistake
I did when we made Cookie Monster cookies--I nearly had heart failure
when I changed a diaper. Some things were just never meant to be
cookie-monster blue.

--Amanda


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