Chuck it out and go to Waitrose?

Wait until the day and then go in and buy one which has been reduced!

Nonnie - Got half price well in date Sainsbury's cake made up of little cubes of cake each with a letter of Happy Birthday on. Reduced because of slight damage to packaging at one corner. Putting cling film around package I noticed the uniced side of the cube was brown and appeared to be fruitcake. Only I like fruitcake.
Mild family row, huge apologies and promises of homemade chocolate cake next time to GD, most of them rushing out to pantomime at the time anyway.
Cake sent, unopened, to London with my son, greatly enjoyed by his family and friends there. The brown was a cardboard inner sleeve. The cubes were yummy, family favourite, sponge with buttercream.
OK - I hadn't read the description on the box ... Good bargain however.

Well,I texted DD and she said to just bake it. It tastes fine so I think we will ignore the colour and I will do loads of pink buttercream and icing. Thanks Becca.

I have still got to make a chocolate one for Sunday when the rest of the family come. [sigh]

I did put some dried strawberry in the cake so it will be - interesting!

Ooh Elred I love those little cakes!

My mum used to use contnual which I think was made from beetles. Is there anything were allowed to do or buy anymore?

Cochineal I wrote.

wot having done some (belated ) research on the net, I see Lakeland have brought out a range of natural food colourings that are 'bake safe', and in the reviews someone has complained that the red one has cochineal in it! So what? I don't mind eating the odd insect or two if it does the job.

Becca if you do come back to this thread, that info might be useful to you.

I have always used paste food colouring. It states in the blurb that it can be used in cake mixture, and I have never had any problems, apart from the violet always being a bit grey.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANY-6-SUGARFLAIR-PASTE-FOOD-COLOURING-ICING-COLOUR-/280578366608?hash=item4153c61c90:g:sdcAAOxyrYFR1Wdm
A quick way of adding interest is to add coloured sugar strands or 100s and 1000s to the mixture, known as a 'Funfetti' cake. Endless colour possibilities, single colour, chocolate or mixed. Having made at least 6 birthday cakes a year for 16 odd years, I am running out of original ideas!

Thanks Shysal. They sound good. I did wonder though, if paste blends in OK with the cake mixture.

Jingles.....as long as I didn't know or remember about beetles being in Cochineal, it wouldn't bother me either. I mean when you think about eating prawns, that could seem equally Grosse. Excuse my spelling.

True.

Paste colours blend well jingl. You add a tiny bit on the end of a cocktail stick (I put it onto the mixer blade or spoon)and mix in. There is also the advantage of not altering the consistency as a liquid would, especially when colouring fondant.

Oh right! Sounds ok. Thank you.

The cakes seem to have turned out ok. Done and iced now. And I resisted the temptation to add an extra one to my Ocado order. (Shop ones always look so delicious)

wot when we visited Lanzarote we saw a field? full of cacti on which were cochineal beetles, used to make the red colouring for foods.
It did put me off baking pink cakes I must admit!!

I was going to say 'sling some brown sherry into it and turn it into a trifle' jings, but you seem to have sorted it now. Bet it will taste really good anyway.

Yes, why is that? We are happy to eat prawns and shrimps but not insects!

Jailma, do you think the cacti were planted to attract the beetles? So they could harvest them (the beetles)

Yes, it was a cochineal beetle 'farm' !

www.uniquelanzarotevillas.co.uk/blog/2012/07/dye-another-day-lanzarote%C2%B4s-cochineal-industry/

Not advertising the villas, we did not stay in one so cannot make a recommendation one way or the other, but it gives a good idea of the cochineal industry there!

Very interesting! Thanks for the link. I wonder how they make all the other colours?

Looks quite pretty anyway. (I am no great cake decorator)

I thank the Lord for the fantastic cake d formations you can get these days.