Experiment #3: Natural Food Coloring

In Experiment #2, I learned to use turmeric to add a yellow hue to vegan lemon curd. Well, I made a cake and wanted to add a few flowers with leaves to the top. I was looking around my pantry and found a couple more items to experiment with. Yay! After whipping up a fresh batch of vegan cream cheese frosting, I frosted a cake and reserved a bit for the color experiment.

First, the flowers. I sprinkled a pinch of paprika at a time into about a half cup of the reserved frosting. After each addition of paprika, I tasted the frosting to make sure the flavor didn't change, and I kept adding paprika until I got to a rosey hue I was satisfied with.

Next, I did the same with the rest of the reserved frosting, this time using spirulina powder to turn it green for the leaves. Spirulina is a salt water algae and vegan friendly. The powder didn't alter the flavor, but I accidentally poured too much in at once, turning the frosting a dark gray, almost black. I had extra frosting to try again, and I got a greenish color I was happy with. In both cases, though, you can see teeny tiny specks of the powder in the frosting if you look closely. The specks are so tiny, they don't bother me at all.

As you can see in the picture, the paprika and spirulina powder don't make for the bright, vibrant colors you see on cakes at the grocery store, but the colors look more natural, and I just think it's rad to "repurpose" items you already have in the pantry. Next time I use berries for baking, I'll reserve the juice for more color experiments. I'll also try beet powder if I can find it in small enough quantities since it's kind of pricey.