In the last few months, since Ariana started to want to decorate our cakes, cupcakes and cookies with colours, I have been trying to find a brand that I could trust and had no dubious ingredients. I am not sure you are aware, but the commercial brands out there are full of not very nice (to not say nasty) ingredients, some of which have been linked to hyperactivity in children, thyroid issues, allergies, ADHD and others issues, so I try to steer away from those. You can read information about this here where they have done research in depth and have links to medical and scientific studies. Educate yourself so you can then take your own decision about using commercial food colouring, don’t take my word for it!
Anyways, as I struggled to find an UK brand that I could use, I decided to start experimenting using natural pigments, simply by using superfoods, vegetable and fruit powders. To be honest, I had most of these in my cupboard already, so its quite easy for me to have these ingredients handy for our baking and decorating times on a regular basis. These are the ones I have found to give the best result:
Red- beetroot powder
Pink- mangosteen powder
Black- activated charcoal powder (this is also used to alleviate stomach related discomfort)
Green- spirulina/ chlorella
Blue- butterfly pea flower tea
Orange/Yellow- Turmeric powder
I must admit that the array of colours we have created so far using the above have been somehow more pastel than brightly coloured, but for me the health related benefits rather out weight the fact that we need to keep our decoration on a more mild tonality. Plus it was fun experimenting 😉
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