If you'd like to ditch those little bottles of brilliantly-hued artificial dye in favor of something a little closer to nature, there's hope. In a recent Fine Cooking article, Ellie Krieger recommends we head to the produce section.
Krieger's idea is to use fruit purees and juices to give color to frostings and other foods. Not only do foods like mangos and blueberries lend their color naturally, but they also give foods an extra nutritional boost. And who couldn't use a little more fruit in their diet?
I've experimented with things like beet powder and concentrated pomegranate juice before, and I'm curious to try some of Krieger's other suggestions. For a batch of pink cupcake frosting, she boils down raspberries. For purple, she recommends grape juice concentrate. The colors are lighter and more pastel than when using artificial dyes, but this is a trade-off I'm willing to make for fewer chemicals in my cupcakes.
The article doesn't mention how much these natural dyes affect the flavor of the finished treat. Raspberries are a perfect pairing with vanilla cupcakes, but I'm wondering if using spinach to tint icing green might require a more strongly flavored baked good to back it up.
Have any of you experimented with natural dyes like these? What are your thoughts?
• Read the Article: A Fresh Look at Food Coloring by Ellie Krieger, Fine Cooking (Issue #116)
Related: Red Velvet Cake Conspiracy! Plus a Modern, Dye-Free Recipe
(Image: Airy Angel Food Cupcakes with Naturally Pink Frosting/Faith Durand)
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Blackberry juice make icing pretty pink too! <3
I recently made this cake using natural dyes for my nephew's welcome party: http://itsybitsyfoodies.com/rainbow-cake-with-natural-dyes-for-the-dailybuzz-moms-9x9/
It turned out really well, and the vegetable and fruit juices did not flavour the cake at all. I also used beet juice to colour some of the icing, and that imparted more of a flavour, but beets are nice and sweet-tasting anyhow. There was a bit of prep work involved to juice the vegetables and fruits, but it was worth it in the end.
Ah I love this. I did the concentrated fruit puree with strawberries for a birthday cake last year. Adding a little lemon juice often helps the colors pop a bit more, but I'd caution anyone to do a test with a small portion first, as the acid could make the color change for the worst depending on the fruit.
Oh yeah, I also did turmeric in white chocolate (with a few drops of vegetable oil to thin it out), and when the little bit of it was eaten with the cake I couldn't taste it at all, and I used quite a bit of the spice.
My mom extracts her own beetroot juice for red velvet cakes. Pandan leaves give you the most amazing green colour, and also tastes yummy.
Thanks for the great info, caseoftornados! Beautiful work.