Hi friends,

I’m on a mission. My aim is to try and produce a variety of food colourings from natural vegetables and fruits to use on cake icings. I have found a green from matcha green tea powder, red from beetroot and acid like lemon juice, pink strawberries, white and brown can simply be made from chocolate and yellow from dried turmeric powder . I read up and heard that to make a blue you can use red cabbage and an alkaline. I have tried blueberries, but comes out purple/ pink colour.

Any suggestions

Alicia

Hi, Alicia!

Welcome!

I think you have a great mission!

I have a question for you.  I have also tried to use matcha for green, but the taste and detectible texture of the matcha is just, well, ecchy!!  How have you “gotten around” this?

Meanwhile, if I can think of anything for blue, I’ll let you know!

Thanks!

—ak

Hey Anne,

Thanks for your welcome, it’s good to be talking to other keen cooks like myself. In terms of the matcha powder I totally agree with you, it does give a unusual taste, this is the same for beetroot, spinach and turmeric. This is due to these ingredients having their own distinct flavour. The only way that I avoided these tastes was by using a high quality extract, rather than essence, due to it being naturally made rather than chemically. So a good quantity of this seemed to override the other flavours. I tried to make a green and pink battenburg cake and with this I made two sponges. The green one was made with matcha powder and almond extract. Also for the pink I cooked raw beetroot, waited for it cool, then whisked up it up with the eggs in a blender and for the flavour added some lemon juice and rind. I also find alcohol works well, like when I made marzipan I added the matcha powder (as a Halloween idea) and disaronno and this covered up the flavour nicely.

Too much experimenting when I should be focusing on studying!!!!!!!

Anyone else had any fun with natural icings or ideas….............

✿Alicia✿

Hi Alicia,

I recall somebody making an avocado frosting on food network once.  the colour was a nice green.  It may taste better than spinach in a cake. did you figure out how to make blue?

If they develop and sell this,  I will buy and use it as long as it will cost the same as regular food coloring.