How To Make Natural Food Dyes

In a time when people are more aware of what’s going in their food, dyes have become a hot topic of conversation. Major culprits like red dye 40, yellow 5 and blue 1 & 2 have been linked in labs to causing cancer and tumors in mice, an unwelcome addition to your enjoying an ice cold snow cone on a hot summer day. Even companies like Hershey’s as of recently have announced a plan to reformulate their recipes to remove artificial food dyes and flavorings after market research showed them that more and more people are choosing sweets that don’t. But we have an even better alternative for you! Making your own food dyes can be a healthy and colorful way of livening up your pastry creations.

So follow along with our pastry chef in this online cooking class as she shows you how to make natural food dyes with some of our favorite foods. From cakes to icings, the sky is the limit for all the fun things you can do with this technique!

Natural Food Coloring
Natural food coloring can be made by pureeing a large variety of fruits, herbs and vegetable’s such as:

Beets-red or pink
Carrots-orange
Spinach-green
Mint-green
Blackberries-purple
Raspberries-purple or pink
Papaya-orange
Sweet Potatoes-orange

Some of these may require a little bit of liquid such as water or simply syrup to be added . Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Once you’ve reserved that liquid, use it to color butter cream icing or cake naturally. Beets are popular for coloring the classic red velvet cupcake. When using beets, remember to roast or boil fresh betts first to get the best results.