Jax
28-08-2010, 11:44 AM
After watching a programme this week on E numbers, predominantly food colourings and hearing about the nasty things they used to add to foods back in the dark ages such as lead in milk to make it look creamier.........and then how things aren't really much better these days with using coal and petroleum to get artificial colours or crushed bugs......I thought I'd add a thread about natural vegan food colourings :) Please note that some of these require boiling the vegetable, so obviously not so raw.
Yellow - Add 1 tsp of stale turmeric. Turmeric is often used to give vegan puddings and tofu scrambles that "eggy" shade. This is a good use for turmeric that's past its prime, since stale turmeric is fairly flavour. Also use yellow pepper or juiced pineapple. Bolied lemon or orange peel, celery seed or ground cumin. A yellowy green is achieved with bolied bright green apple peelings.
Pastel pink - Mash the juice from 14 fresh or thawed frozen raspberries directly into the icing for a cake. Red currants or Acai berries can also work. Also juiced radish.
Red - You can achieve a slightly darker pink or near to red with red pepper, juiced tomato, chilli or paprika powders, dark red tomatoes juiced rhubarb or boiled pomegranate juice. Boiled Hibiscus flowers make a nice red colour and red onion skins.
Purple/blue - Mash the juice from 14 fresh or thawed frozen blueberries and 12 fresh or thawed frozen blackberries directly into icing for raspberry purple, using a sieve. Beetroot juice can also make purple or a burgundy, and purple corn can make a pastal purple. Juiced aubergine skin can be used. Juiced (or smashed and strained) black/purple grapes may give more of a blue colour. Also juiced or boiled red cabbage or radish.
Pale Green - Mash half a small avocado until creamy paste and mix this into your icing. The avocado makes the icing thinner, but in a fluffy, pleasant way apparently. Green tea and wheat grass can be used.
A slightly darker green or bluey green can be achieved with chlorella or spirulina, but be careful of the taste starting to over power the food. Or kale juice extracted from a juicer - 2 tsp of kale juice will give a very rich pastel green color. You can also juice parsley, spinach, romaine, cucumber, green pepper or watercress for the same effect. Seaweeds may also work.
Orange - Juiced carrots or saffron. Boiled yellow onion skins.
Brown - Use coffee or cacao powder, some teas. Soy sauce. Boiled black walnut shells and boiled dill seeds give a more yellowy brown. Cinnamon may also work for a light brown.
“Red Cabbage juice is pink in acidic solutions, purple in solutions of ~pH7, and turns blue in basic solutions, and green in very basic solutions.” - Tutorial (http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=289)
If you know of any more please add to this thread, many thanks ;)
Taken from eHow (http://www.ehow.com/how_2302808_make-natural-food-coloring.html), Natural Colouring (http://www.naturalcolors.com/), Organic:love to know (http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Natural_Food_Coloring), Lunch Box blog (http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/03/colorful-baking-with-homemade-natural.html), Homemade Food Colouring (http://hubpages.com/hub/make-food-coloring), Homemade Easter Egg dyes (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-natural-easter-egg-dyes.html), Eyecandy (http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=385&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eyecandyfoodblog+%28Eye+Candy +Food+Blog%29),
Yellow - Add 1 tsp of stale turmeric. Turmeric is often used to give vegan puddings and tofu scrambles that "eggy" shade. This is a good use for turmeric that's past its prime, since stale turmeric is fairly flavour. Also use yellow pepper or juiced pineapple. Bolied lemon or orange peel, celery seed or ground cumin. A yellowy green is achieved with bolied bright green apple peelings.
Pastel pink - Mash the juice from 14 fresh or thawed frozen raspberries directly into the icing for a cake. Red currants or Acai berries can also work. Also juiced radish.
Red - You can achieve a slightly darker pink or near to red with red pepper, juiced tomato, chilli or paprika powders, dark red tomatoes juiced rhubarb or boiled pomegranate juice. Boiled Hibiscus flowers make a nice red colour and red onion skins.
Purple/blue - Mash the juice from 14 fresh or thawed frozen blueberries and 12 fresh or thawed frozen blackberries directly into icing for raspberry purple, using a sieve. Beetroot juice can also make purple or a burgundy, and purple corn can make a pastal purple. Juiced aubergine skin can be used. Juiced (or smashed and strained) black/purple grapes may give more of a blue colour. Also juiced or boiled red cabbage or radish.
Pale Green - Mash half a small avocado until creamy paste and mix this into your icing. The avocado makes the icing thinner, but in a fluffy, pleasant way apparently. Green tea and wheat grass can be used.
A slightly darker green or bluey green can be achieved with chlorella or spirulina, but be careful of the taste starting to over power the food. Or kale juice extracted from a juicer - 2 tsp of kale juice will give a very rich pastel green color. You can also juice parsley, spinach, romaine, cucumber, green pepper or watercress for the same effect. Seaweeds may also work.
Orange - Juiced carrots or saffron. Boiled yellow onion skins.
Brown - Use coffee or cacao powder, some teas. Soy sauce. Boiled black walnut shells and boiled dill seeds give a more yellowy brown. Cinnamon may also work for a light brown.
“Red Cabbage juice is pink in acidic solutions, purple in solutions of ~pH7, and turns blue in basic solutions, and green in very basic solutions.” - Tutorial (http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=289)
If you know of any more please add to this thread, many thanks ;)
Taken from eHow (http://www.ehow.com/how_2302808_make-natural-food-coloring.html), Natural Colouring (http://www.naturalcolors.com/), Organic:love to know (http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Natural_Food_Coloring), Lunch Box blog (http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/03/colorful-baking-with-homemade-natural.html), Homemade Food Colouring (http://hubpages.com/hub/make-food-coloring), Homemade Easter Egg dyes (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-natural-easter-egg-dyes.html), Eyecandy (http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=385&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eyecandyfoodblog+%28Eye+Candy +Food+Blog%29),