Homemade Natural (vegan) Food Dyes

If you make fancy cakes, you likely use food dyes (especially for weddings to match the colour of the dress!) But many food dyes are made from chemicals or animals (pink cochineal/carmine is made from insects).

This vegan strawberry frosting (Rainbow Nourishments) uses freeze-dried strawberry powder.

Homemade food dyes last a few days in the fridge, in airtight containers. Avoid (pink) hibiscus powder for pregnancy/nursing and check medication before using spirulina. Keep cocoa powder away from pets.

The creator of the recipe above says that it’s best to add freeze-dried powder (for instance, beetroots may turn your pee pink, but will make a more brown cake, add beetroot powder to make a pink cake).

Vegan Blueberry Frosting (Rainbow Nourishments)

The main natural plants used to dye foods are:

Matcha is a Japanese powder to turn things green. It’s very strong so you only need a little, which is good as it’s green tea, so makes things taste of grass! You can add a little cinnamon, to mask the taste.
Acai is a superfood berry to turn things purple. You only need a tiny amount (so the amount of superfoods you get is low, but the colour is a lot). It even leaves pretty purple flecks.
Turmeric is a spice to turn things yellow (it’s often used by vegans to make ‘scrambled egg and omelettes’). You can add a little beet powder or juice to turn this dye orange. Again turmeric has a strong (curry) flavour, so add a little cinnamon if wished.
Culinary Charcoal powder is used to make things black. Not everyone wants a black cake, but there is a market out there for goth teenager birthdays or ‘ghoulish’ themed parties!

Where to Buy Natural Vegan Food Dyes

Raw Nice is a brand of natural vegan food dyes, in brown paper packaging. Loved by tens of thousands of people, these have no taste, so are ideal for smoothies and cakes. Just scoop and stir. The range includes: