Food Colorings: Pastry & Chocolate

How to choose your food coloring?

Nowadays, more and more lovers of pastry and chocolate recipes are wondering: How to choose your food coloring? Should I choose a powdered food coloring? or rather a liquid food coloring? What is the difference between water-soluble and fat-soluble food coloring? Which dye for Food Airbrush?

We are going to explain all the characteristics between these different food colorings. Layer cake, rainbow cake, naked cake, number cake, cupcake, macaroon and other colorful delicacies will hold no secrets for you!

Natural food colors generally come from vegetables, fruits, plants, minerals and other edible natural sources. They impart color when added to food or drink.

Natural food colors are preparations obtained from foods and other edible natural source materials, by physical and/or chemical extraction resulting in an extraction of their natural pigments.

They come in many forms: liquids, powders, gels and pastes.

The different types of food coloring and how to use them:

Whether you're baking Grandma's red velvet cake or adding the finishing touches to your yule log, understanding how to use food coloring to make your icings, candies and various treats stand out. While traditionally most bakers stick to liquid food coloring , there are several options for tinting food, and each has its benefits and quirks.

liquid food coloring

Traditional liquid food coloring is an inexpensive option. This is the best type of dye to use when you want a lighter shade. For large desserts, such as cakes, it sometimes takes a few bottles of dye to create a rich, vibrant color. On the other hand, all it takes is a drop to get the pretty pastel filling of these dreamy creme waffles.

Liquid food coloring is usually made from a synthetic dye in an aqueous base. It is often sold in small plastic bottles which are great for beginners as you can add as many coloring drops as you want until you get the shade you want.

Gel liquid food coloring

Gel liquid coloring is similar to its traditional counterpart since it is a synthetic coloring based on water, glycerin or corn syrup. Like regular liquid tincture , it is sold in small dropper bottles. But the similarities between the two products end there. If you squeeze a bottle of gel liquid dye , you get a much thicker, gel-like liquid. The dye is very concentrated, so a small amount is enough.

This type of food coloring is great for creating bright colors. The downside of gel concentrated dye is that it is not as easy to find as traditional liquid dye and can be somewhat difficult to find. Plus, its thick consistency makes it difficult to spread evenly in batters. Just use it for colorful frostings and your favorite homemade candies.

Food coloring in gel paste

You'll probably only find this gel concentrate at a specialty store, but it's worth a look if you're looking to add a colorful look to a large amount of dough. Like liquid gel dye , it is made of synthetic dyes based on water, glycerin, or corn syrup. The paste is packaged in small jars or jars.

As paste colorings are very thick, it is best to use a toothpick to scoop out the paste, adding very small amounts at a time onto the dessert you are coloring. If you're looking to avoid the mess, have clumsy hands, or have kids involved, this is a great option, unlike liquid components that can spill and splash.

Warning: if you don't know how deep you want your color to be, this is not the best choice. It doesn't allow for a lot of trial and error. And since its consistency is semi-solid, it can also be difficult to work into dough.

Natural food colorings

For those who want to avoid synthetic dyes, there are natural edible dyes . You won't find any glycerin or corn syrup. They can be hard to find, but an online search is enough to order them quickly or to help you find a specialty store in your area. Available in small dropper bottles , the various colors come from plant sources.

For example, saffron or turmeric are used to obtain the yellow color , carrot juice to obtain orange and beets to obtain red tones. They are perfect for people allergic to synthetic dyes. No neon here, though. Used drop by drop, natural edible dyes are best for achieving a subtle, earthy hue.

powdered food coloring

Food coloring powders are made from synthetic dyes without water, glycerin or corn syrup. They are sold in pots of totally dry coloring powder . There are many ways to use it: add a pinch of color powder to your dry mix or combine it with a few drops of clear alcohol to achieve a paint-like consistency. You can even sprinkle it on food to create a soft finish.

Powdered coloring is best used in recipes sensitive to the addition of liquid, such as chocolate or colored macaroons . But use it sparingly, as colored powder can produce a very dark color.

As you can see there are as many different food colorings as there are supports to be colored. At Aero Cake we prefer spraying colors on dessert using our food airbrushes . Indeed, this homemade pastry and chocolate coloring technique is the most fun and economical of all the others.

Water-soluble and fat-soluble food colorings

Water-soluble colorings mix in a fairly liquid preparation, which is not too greasy, like meringues. There are 2 types of water-soluble dyes :

• Water-soluble liquid: easy to use coloring but loses intensity during cooking.
• Water-soluble powder: ideal coloring for cooking because they will better preserve their intensity (macaroons)

Fat-soluble dyes are mainly mixed in preparations containing fat (butter, cream, cocoa butter, etc.). Whether it's liquid or powder, fat-soluble food coloring makes it easy to color your melted chocolate or pastry cream. It is necessary to pour a mini pinch and gradually increase the quantity.

There are also more intense gel food colorings , which will allow you to color your macaroon machine easily. You will get bright colors more easily. They are also perfect for royal icing cookie decorations.

It is also possible to opt for solid or liquid colored cocoa butters, which allow you to color the white chocolate, but also to decorate your cakes and chocolates on the surface, using a brush.

What dyes for food airbrush?

Natural food colors are more sensitive to cooking than artificial colors. Generally powdered natural dyes do not have the same shade in the pot as indicated on the label. Once added to your preparation, it is often the disappointment because the desired color does not correspond to expectations. Artificial food colorings have much brighter colors and are not hazardous to health.

Why bother with artificial or synthetic dyes ? Aren't there enough natural colors for everyone? One of the main reasons for opting for artificial colors is the cost. Synthetic dyes can be mass-produced for a fraction of the cost of collecting and processing the materials used to make natural dyes .

Another reason is shelf life. Artificial food coloring may be longer lasting than natural food coloring of the same color. Although nature produces an impressive range of colors, those that can be used as food coloring are limited. But there is no limit to the variety of colors that can be produced artificially in a laboratory.

Considering the thousands of different substances that color our food, it may come as a surprise to find that the WHO has only approved seven synthetic edible colors for widespread use in foods. These food colorings are as follows; blue, indigo, turquoise, pink, red, yellow, orange. All other food colors are a mixture of these 7 primary colors .

Whether you just want to decorate your cake quickly or want to add shadow effects or color gradients, the airbrush gun is the essential tool for a professional result. Airbrush guns are very practical for coloring sugar paste, icing or buttercream.

The airbrush is a tool that you can also use to spray inedible paint to decorate objects. However, be careful not to use the same airbrush for inedible paint and edible food coloring to avoid poisoning.

An airbrush consists of an airbrush gun , a compressor, a flexible hose to send compressed air from the compressor to the gun, and a power cable to supply the device with electricity.

The airbrush gun is the part you hold in your hand to spray the food coloring on your preparation. It is equipped with a nozzle at the front with a small reservoir cup to add the paint and an airbrush trigger on which you press to release the paint under the pressure of the air atomized into a colored spray .

• Shake the dye bottle well before pouring it into your airbrush to prevent residue from clogging the airbrush nozzle .
• A few drops of airbrush food coloring in the tank attached to the spray gun are enough.
• Test the color on a sheet of white paper before you start spraying your preparations by pressing the trigger.
• Protect your workspace against airbrush spray in the form of color spray.
• For best results with your airbrush food coloring , hold your spray gun 15cm from your cake or dessert.
• Spraying your color jet vertically allows for finer, sharper lines.
• The longer you pull the trigger, the more intense the spray. It is best to pull the trigger 50-60% for a steady stream.
• Feel free to practice on paper or cardboard to familiarize yourself with your new spray decorating tool. You will quickly learn how to play with aesthetic effects depending on the angle and flow of the spray paint.

It is essential to clean your airbrush after each use so that colorant residues do not clog the ducts and the airbrush nozzle . Begin by emptying the colorant from the airbrush and pouring water inside, spraying it outward. This simple manipulation will remove most of the food coloring . For a more serious cleaning it will be necessary to repeat the operation with pure alcohol.

Tip: to create 3D effects on your cakes or graphic effects on your chocolate moulds, try spraying dye-free air on your preparation and you will be surprised at the result.

IN SUMMARY:

To be sure to choose the right food coloring , you must therefore take into account two important parameters: the composition of your preparation and its texture. For an optimal result, your dye must have the same texture as your preparation.

• airbrush: liquid water-soluble dye
• macaroons: gel water-soluble coloring
• meringue: liquid coloring or gel coloring
• royal icing: water-soluble liquid coloring or gel coloring
• buttercream: gel coloring or liposoluble powder coloring
• whipped cream: fat-soluble liquid coloring
• white chocolate: colored cocoa butter or fat-soluble coloring
• cake device: fat-soluble or water-soluble coloring in gel or powder

You are now ready to spray your desserts with magnificent colors that will surprise your loved ones and your guests at your next gourmet event.
Do not hesitate to leave us your questions in the comments!