Natural Food Coloring

With the variety of food additives that have found their place in our kitchen, food coloring agents are one of them. However, nowadays, people prefer to use natural agents that are fresh and free from chemicals and toxins. There are several dangers of artificial food color, so going with the natural variety is always a better choice. Though colors prepared with natural ingredients may slightly affect the flavor of the dish prepared, they can indeed introduce an attractive variation of colors that you can add to your preparations, whether it be your favorite pasta, or a yummy cake frosting! Here's a look into some simple ways of preparing these colors.

Red Food Color

• Take about a pound of beets, and scrub them to remove any dirt that might have settled on their surface.
• In a pot, add some water and put the beets in it. Cover the pot and allow them to boil until they are tender.
• Remove the beets from the water, but retain the water. Peel the beets and chop them. Any juice that is released in the process of chopping should be added to the water that was used for boiling the beets.
• Put the chopped beet back in the water, and let it remain in the water for a couple of hours.
• You may either use the water directly after straining the beet, or you may mash the beet in the water, and then strain away the pulp, for a more concentrated color.
• Pour the color into a jar, and add about 2 teaspoons of vinegar into it, to maintain the color.

This coloring agent can also be made by following a similar process with cherries, raspberries, or pomegranate, or their juice concentrates.

Green Food Color

• Take some spinach or avocado, wash it thoroughly, and puree it, until smooth, with a blender.
• In a medium pan, add four cups of water, and pour in about ½ cup of spinach or avocado puree. Boil this mixture, and then let it simmer for a couple of hours over a low flame.
• Strain the pulp from the liquid, and pour the liquid into a container, allowing it to cool. You may add about ¼ tsp of baking powder in this liquid to elicit a deeper green color.
• Refrigerate the color till you wish to use it.

While the flavors of avocado are not very strong, and blend into almost any dish that you may prepare, spinach may slightly alter the flavor of the food you choose to color it with. Thus, depending on what you are cooking, use the appropriate ingredient to make the color. Green food color can also be made by following the same process with kale leaves, the flavors of which are slightly milder than spinach.

Blue Food Color

• Take ½ of a medium head red cabbage.
• Place the cabbage in a pot of water, and allow it to boil over a medium flame. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat, and allow it to simmer for a couple of hours, till it becomes soft, or turns into a dark green color.
• Strain the water, which will have developed a deep blue color.
• Pour it in a container, to store and refrigerate, and to retain the color. Use it to add a unique color to your favorite cake frosting.

This color can also be made, by following a similar process with blackcurrants and blueberries. Simply boil, mash, and strain the liquid to attain a rich blue color.

Yellow Food Color
This color can simply be attained by using stale turmeric powder. Stale because it loses its flavor, but the color is still as rich. Also, boiling lemon and orange peels, or chopped carrots, by following a similar process as mentioned above, will help you achieve a natural yellow food coloring.

Tips to Use Natural Food Coloring

It may be simple to prepare and store, but the art of using natural food color is slightly tricky. Understand how to use it, before you actually do.

• Always keep in mind the kind of food you are going to add the color to. As mentioned before, the coloring agent has the ability to alter the flavor of the dish you wish to make, but only at a very small level. Even so, try to avoid using natural green coloring made from spinach for your cake frosting.
• Use the coloring agents within 2 weeks. Discard it if unused within this time period.
• Since all coloring agents are in a liquid form, they can affect the consistency of the dish you are preparing. Also, they are not as powerful as commercial coloring agents, and require to be used in larger amounts.
• As such, when preparing a dish that requires color, reduce the amount of liquid needed to prepare the dish, and balance it off with the coloring agent. However, start by adding small amounts, till you achieve the desired shade.

Thus, instead of using commercial food coloring agents, you can create your own natural food colors, and create an interesting blend of colors to make your food as visually appealing, as it is delicious!