Indigo Pea Flower Yogurt Cake

Indigo, according to Sherwin Williams Paint Company, is the world’s first favorite color. It is the color between blue and violet in a rainbow and is named from the indigo dye that comes from the plant, Indigofera tinctoria.
For this recipe, I have created an indigo colored cake using the Butterfly Pea Flower plus some food coloring to get a rich color. The Butterfly Pea Flower is full of antioxidants, flavonoids and peptides and is thought to help with sleeplessness, stress, and anxiety. In Southeast Asia, the Butterfly Pea flower is used as a natural dye used in foods to develop rich colors in drinks and rice dishes.
I ordered my flowers online in the form of tea in tea bags. Amazon sells a box of
20 tea bags of IngredieWild Hibiscus Blue-Tee 100% Pure Butterfly Pea Flower Tea - 1.1 ounces for $10.95. You will also need other ingredients such as honey yogurt which will give the cake a nice flavor and moisture.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces honey yogurt
1/3 cup milk ( I used 2 percent but whole milk will work)
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 egg whites
6 tea bags butterfly pea flower tea
Food coloring
For the frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons milk (I used 2 percent)
Food coloring

Step 1: Preparing the Batter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour to a stand mixer.

Step 2: Preparing the Batter

Add 2 cups of sugar.

Step 3: Preparing the Batter

Add 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Step 4: Preparing the Batter

Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Step 5: Preparing the Batter

Add 8 ounces of honey yogurt. I use the Noosa brand. If you can’t find the honey flavor, you could try vanilla.

Step 6: Preparing the Batter

Add 1/2 cup of unsalted butter that is room temperature.

Step 7: Preparing the Batter

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. I used a clear version so that it wouldn’t change the color that I was working towards.

Step 8: Preparing the Batter

Add 4 large egg whites.

Step 9: Preparing the Batter

Open 6 tea bags of butterfly pea flower tea and pour them into the batter.

Step 10: Preparing the Batter

Add 1/3 cup of milk. I used 2 percent milk but whole milk would work.

Step 11: Preparing the Batter

Add three drops of blue food coloring. Since I was trying to achieve an indigo colored cake, I needed a bit more color than the tea provided.

Step 12: Preparing the Batter

Add three drops of purple food coloring.

Step 13: Let’s Bake!

Spray your bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.

Step 14: Let’s Bake

Place bundt pan in the middle of the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Wait 30 minutes and turn out cake on a cooling rack.

Step 15: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Add 1 cup of unsalted butter to the bowl of a stand mixer.

Step 16: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Add 3 cups of powdered sugar.

Step 17: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Step 18: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Add 2 teaspoons of milk.

Step 19: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Run the mixer on low until Frosting is smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.

Step 20: Creating the Buttercream Frosting

Add blue and purple food coloring to the inside of a frosting piping bag and then fill with buttercream frosting. I used a frosting gun that’s made by Wilton.

Step 21: Decorating the Cake

Squeeze frosting in a swirling motion over the top of the bundt cake. Sprinkle with purple sugar crystals.
My daughter calls this the toothpaste cake. Can you guess why? ;)

Step 22: Let’s Eat!

This cake is brown on the outside but when you slice into it, surprise! It’s indigo! If you look closely, you’ll see specks of buffterfly pea flower that are an intense indigo color.
The texture of the cake is wonderful, not too dense. It is very moist and tastes like a vanilla cake with a slight hint of honey. With the Buttercream frosting, each bite is delightful and I was certainly happy after a slice of this cake. I don’t know if that was because of the effects of the butterfly pea flower or because I like cake. Ha ha!