When you think of colorful food you think of festive foods. Festive foods come in varieties of flavors and colors that include sweets, candies, and some frosting. But all these festive foods are colored with artificial colors. FDA is okay with adding 2-3 drops in these processed food products and so am I.
But there is always an alternative for everything. Similarly, we have an alternative for these food colorings. So this year I have planned to do some DIY-ing with my food using natural food colors. To make natural colors at home I picked up some fruits, veggies, and flowers that can help me to add color to my food. I learn a lot of things during this journey and the results were interesting. Here are some tips and tricks that you can try while coloring your food at home.
Ingredients that can help you with food coloring
Yes, not all food ingredients like fruits, veggies, and flowers are ideal for food coloring. So here are some options that helped in the process.
I used red cabbage for the blue color, spinach for the green color, turmeric to make the yellow color, and beetroot for the red.
Do these ingredients affects the taste of your food?
Generally, food colors are added in very minute proportions, like 2-3 drops. Hence, there is no way that it can spoil the taste of your food. For example, turmeric has a very strong yellow color so adding a pinch of turmeric is enough to change the color to yellow. In large amounts, it will taste horrible but a pinch of it can not affect the taste.
The process of making colors
The process of making different colors can vary as per the ingredient. The majority are made by cooking down the fruits and veggies to form a concentrated liquid. The process doesn’t take too long to create the desired color and it can be enough to last for months. You can store them in containers or a fridge.
The best way is to make the puree of the veggies from which you want to extract colors. I used red cabbage for making brilliant blue color but in that; I had to use a lot of frosting because it was a bit watery.
Making yellow food coloring from turmeric
Turmeric works like magic; it gave me bright and vibrant yellow food coloring. The process for making yellow frosting is quite simple.
I boiled turmeric with 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. The boiling process was done till now the liquid was reduced to half.
It was so good that I just used 2-3 drops in my frosting to give it a nice yellow-golden color.
Making red food coloring from beets
Beetroot is the best option if you are looking to make a natural red color. Firstly, I made a puree from beet by boiling it. Then drain the puree so that only the extract is left. You can also get pink color from this puree.
And from here, you can combine your red, yellow, and blue food colors to make other colors.