How To Make Your Own Food Colouring

momstown Oakville moms are extremely resourceful and I love all the information that gets shared between members.  A few weeks ago at our Busy Bag Swap, we got to talking about food colouring and one momstown Oakville member shared how she makes her own natural food colouring.  I thought this was brilliant and knew that there would be tons of moms that would love to have this information so I was inspired to write this blog post.

Early this year in March, we shared this great recipe for St. Patrick's Day spinach cupcakes in which the cupcakes were green due to the addition of puréed spinach!  Not only was this a wonderful example of natural food colouring but this treat also included a good dose of spinach and the kids didn't even notice.

Puréed Beets

Here are some tips to make your own natural food colouring.

Red/pink: Beets, cranberries or raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Yellow/orange: Carrots

Green: Pureed spinach

Blue: Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Purple: Red cabbage

If you are concerned about the food changing the taste of a recipe too much, try covering the ingredient chopped or grated in a pot with just enough water to cover it. Boil for about 15 minutes. Drain and cool. This results in a mild colour and almost no residual flavour.  Because this is not a concentrated color, use this liquid in place of all liquid if you are using this for a frosting recipe.

For a more intense colour, juice or puree any of the above listed ingredients. This method will include some flavour of the pureed food although carrots and spinach don't seem to change the flavour all that much.  To compensate for the extra moisture being added with the coloured water or purees , reduce other wet ingredients slightly so that the recipe doesn't become too mushy or watery.  Use the natural food coloring within 1-2 weeks of making it as it will go bad.  Store the colors in a sealed container, in the fridge.