When it comes to food colouring, taking the natural route is infinitely better than using powdery chemicals that have harmful chemicals in them. Food dyes, like the name suggests, add pops of colour to food and make it visually appealing. It is possible to extract food dyes from natural sources of food as opposed to using something that is unfamiliar. Here are a few things to keep in mind while DIYing your own natural food colours.
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Choose Sources Mindfully
Sources for natural food colouring is easily available with ingredients that are used in home kitchens regularly. Using sources like strawberries or raspberries for pink, red cabbage and baking soda for blue, activated charcoal or squid ink for black, matcha or spinach for green are reliable ways to extract and add colour to food.
Accounting For Flavour
One thing that is imperative to remember while making food colour from natural sources is that it will impart a small bit of flavour to whatever it is being added to. What helps is to use sweeter ingredients like carrots or beetroot for sweet dishes and spinach, cabbage and tomatoes for savoury ones.
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Change In Visual Aesthetic
Unlike synthetic food dyes, natural food colouring does not have an intense hue. It is suggested to start off with a concentrated base in order to get the most amount of colour and not have them be opaque or diluted.
Powder vs. Liquid Bases
Where natural food dyes are involved, powder or dehydrated bases perform better when added to food instead of using liquid ones. Unless a recipe involves diluting the consistency of an element down further, it is advisable to use a powdered base. Powdered bases also offer more control over the amount you need to add, so you can get desired results. Ingredients like spirulina, cocoa powder or coffee come in a naturally powdered form and are easy to use.
Role Of Heat Application
Although most natural food dyes work just fine when used in cold things like frostings or dips, cooking with food colour might change the composition of the dye and result in a deeper colour or dull shade than anticipated. Food colourings themselves must be cooled completely before being added along with other ingredients.