Colored frosting without the food coloring possible?

supermom

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 11:50 am

I am making a doll cake for my four year old daughter for her birthday. I want to make it colorful. I don't give my kids food coloring what so ever. How is it possible to make the frosting colored without all the junk but still taste good?

shopaholic

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 12:14 pm

Blend strawberries & you have pink, or blueberries for blue/purple. Is the food coloring really worse that all the sugar & shortening in the frosting?

greenfire

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 12:16 pm

yeah I was gonna say to use different fruits and vegetables ... but you might not get the wonderful colors that good ole dye can make ...

supermom

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 12:34 pm

Berries are really expensive here since I would have to use frozen which is five dollars a package. Veg. How do I go about that just juice them up? Would kids really eat it?

As for if it is any better than all the sugar. It isn't really the sugar that I would be worried about it is more of the cancer that food coloring, perservitives, and msg that they cause.

Marion

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 2:05 pm

You'd have to use a LOT of food colouring for it to do all those things you're suggesting (the cancer)! Unless you're making very deep colours, in which case you really need paste colouring, a drop or two of food colouring is not going to do any more damage than the shortening or margarine is going to do to the kids' arteries.

cindy324

Thu, Feb 07 2008, 2:29 pm

Marion is right. Those food colorings are VERY potent, so all it takes is literally one or two drops to dye an entire bowl of frosting.

supermom

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 11:59 am

It has to do with health reasons. My kids know they can't eat anything with color and they ask me otherwise if they are not sure. I make everything from scratch for shabbos.

How about fondant how can I make that? And maybe I would decorate it with pretzals, almonds, and something??? Dried fruit???

mandksima

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 1:48 pm

My kids were also off of artificial colors, flavors, chemicals of any kind, etc... so I understand. Sugar and fat is a different issue. For my kids it definitely helped with behavioral issues. I would try using a little beet juice, fresh, cooked or canned probably will work but it might alter the taste if you use a lot. If you don't use enough it probably won't be colorful enough. I'm not sure how you'd incorporate the liquid into a frosting recipe. Let us know what you find that works!

Mishie

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 2:37 pm

You might be able to find natural food-coloring (made with veggies or fruit), at the Health food store.

GAMZu

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 7:02 pm

Mishie wrote:

You might be able to find natural food-coloring (made with veggies or fruit), at the Health food store.

Good idea.

Supermom, that's great that you do this. Unfortunately too many parents convince themselves that there is absolutely no harm in chemical colors and additives.

Actually, if it were the case, why is it that the diets made for ADHD kids eliminates all that stuff, resulting in good behavior?

You can also try turmeric for yellow. A bit colors a lot, so the taste shouldn't be changed so much.
Of course, there is also chocolate!

For my kids' birthdays I used strawberry cream cheese... some brands add color and some don't.

Mitzvahmom

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 7:13 pm

Quote:

Actually, if it were the case, why is it that the diets made for ADHD kids eliminates all that stuff, resulting in good behavior?

My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD..

Once I took her off of all of these preservatives, added sugars and food dyes... her behavior improved 100% fold...

So my kids are off of the unnatural things also

MahPitom

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 7:17 pm

Buy a beet. One slice of cooked beet can color a whole bakery of crème. And it’s the cheapest you’ll get. Decorate with stuff instead of colored crèmes.

tzipp

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 7:39 pm

Maybe try some tea. Make a really strong cup of berry or orange flavored tea. By using very hot water and a couple bags you can get a nice deep color. Good luck!

NotInNJMommy

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 8:43 pm

I had a fabulous challah once ...."dyed" with carrot juice, beet juice...and also somethign green....3 separate strands with different colors braided together. beautiful and yummy. did NOT taste the veggies.

gryp

Sat, Feb 09 2008, 9:08 pm

I buy the lollipops for my kids made completely out of fruit juice and dyed with vegetable juices. I'm sure it's possible, I just wish it was easily accessible.

Last edited by gryp on Sun, Feb 10 2008, 9:38 am; edited 1 time in total

GAMZu

Sun, Feb 10 2008, 12:32 am

GR wrote:

I but the lollipops for my kids made completely out of fruit juice and dyed with vegetable juices. I'm sure it's possible, I just wish it was easily accessible.

Where??

leomom

Sun, Feb 10 2008, 12:42 am

We recently made pink frosting for a cake by melting raspberry jam and blending that into homemade white frosting. With chocolate cake it was delicious!

Also, frosting doesn't have to have the bad kind of shortening. You can use the healthy stuff.

gryp

Sun, Feb 10 2008, 9:44 am

GAMZu wrote:

GR wrote:

I buy the lollipops for my kids made completely out of fruit juice and dyed with vegetable juices. I'm sure it's possible, I just wish it was easily accessible.

Where??

I see them in all the stores here. The company that makes them is called "Yummy Earth" or something like that. They also make hard candies but I've only bought the lollipops. They're pretty good, the flavors are pomegranate, mango, lemon, and I think one more.

I don't give even those to my kids very often, one package lasted us months. When my son brings home birthday bags with a lollipop or candy inside, I trade with him and give him the fruit juice lollipops, and then I have to give everyone else one too.