Cochineal food colouring

does anyone know where you can buy this please!

Don't know if you can buy cochineal now, think it is just Red food colouring, but could be wrong, I haven't seen it in the shops for a long time.

The little insect from which it was extracted is probably a protected beastie nowadays ;)

Maybe try an organic produce shop!

raw beet root juice

Thanks everyone, I was thinking of the beetroot juice, as wanting to make the red velvet cake, but don't like the amount of red food colouring you have to use in it.

We can get in oz so they still make it.

http://www.cochinealdye.com/html/extract.html

"The term cochineal may be applied either to the living or dried cochineal insects or to cochineal dye which is obtained from them. It takes about 155,000 cochineal insects to produce 1 kilo of cochineal dye.

The red colourant is used in drinks and in foods (under the code E120), and in drugs and cosmetics.

It is used in the following products; pork sausage, pies, dried fish and shrimp, candies, pills, jams, lipstick and rouge, and the brightly coloured maraschino cherries."

Been researching Red Velvet cakes on the net as keen to try but don't want all the colouring. Found this recipe. Haven't tried it yet as been unwell.
No food colouring Chocolate Red Velvet Cake with Chocolate Icing
This velvety chocolate cake gets its name from its smooth texture and reddish hue. The original recipe called for red beet juice—in some parts of the country it is called beet cake—but was altered by manufacturers who added red food coloring to the cake. This buttermilk-based velvety chocolate cake, and uses red wine vinegar or beet juice for the color. This version is less sweet, and uses both good-quality cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. Enjoy <3
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (230 g)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup good-quality cocoa powder (The paler stuff NOT the Dutched)
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons pickled beet juice or red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup cornstarch (cornflour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Icing:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) degrees and grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the water and cocoa powder, and allow the mixture to cool.
Beat the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer, then add the vanilla, buttermilk, baking soda, and beet juice or red wine vinegar and stir well.
Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar into the bowl. Pour in the butter and then the egg mixture and blend thoroughly on low.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool the cakes for a few minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks, and frost and fill the center with the chocolate icing.
Yield: 1 cake serving 8 people

Chocolate Icing:
Place the cream, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until hot and bubbly.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring slowly until smooth and silky. Add the vanilla and the salt. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your taste. Cool for about 15 minutes before frosting the cake.

Would love to know how you get on.

Delicious stuff!I live in a beech forest and regularly collect the shining droplets on my finger and lick them off.

I'm assuming you have the same wacky objection to words like 'roe'!
roe [roh] noun
1. the mass of eggs, or spawn, within the ovarian membrane of the female fish
2. the milt or sperm of the male fish

Etymology: 1400–50; late Middle English rowe;cognate with Old High German rogo

Lots and LOTS of lovely words in the Germanic languages ;)

You misunderstand.on purpose!

I'm in no doubt you like to eat roe - it's the word 'roe' I thought you might object to, given that it doesn't appear to say in English exactly what it is (fish ova and sperm), as with the honey-dew/aphid excreta that bothers you.

I am sorry the English language troubles you so much.The 'shit' word you appear to enjoy using has the same etymology as your German word but it was the influence of the Christian church and Latin on Middle English that caused Latin-derived words like 'defaecate' to be adopted in lieu of the blunter Anglo-Saxon words.

"Etymology: (v.) variant (with short ifrom past participle or noun) of earlier shite, Middle English shiten, Old English scītan;compare Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schiten( Dutch schijten ), Old High German skīzan(German scheissen)."

If you'd like to learn more, there's a lot to discover about the way the English language diverges from its German relative, but Recipes is hardly the best place for it ;)