When you think of food coloring, we bet your mind goes to the little squeeze bottles of primary-colored liquid that come from the supermarket. Yeah, that’s what we used when we were first learning how to bake, and they served us well. When Dédé started getting into wedding cakes and large celebration cakes and wanted to expand artistically, she discovered powdered food coloring, and her life was never the same. No, really, we are serious. Just look at the picture, look at the variety, the subtlety – so far from red, blue and yellow! It’s like getting that new box of 64 Crayola crayons and just staring at the colors brings on possibilities you may have never thought of before.
Powdered colors can be roughly broken down into a few “finishes,” sort of the equivalent of matte, satin, eggshell and what-have-you when you buy paint. In other words, there might be a certain shade of green, but then you also have your choice of effect. The main ones are petal (matte), luster (a bit of shimmer), pearl (pearly), sparkle (sparkly) and true silver and gold colors. They are all extremely versatile, can be used wet or dry and will truly open up your eyes to a world of color and decoration. (Note that different companies might use different names for the finishes, but the important thing is for you to know that you have choices.)
When used dry, the powdered food coloring can be brushed onto baked cookies, meringues, fondant, gum paste, modeling chocolate and so much more. They can be turned into “paint” with a few drops of alcohol; we like to use vodka, but you could use almond extract. In the center of the image at the top of this article you can see a gold and a teal color turned into a “wet paint.” Whatever you use to dissolve the powder should be clear so as not to taint the colors themselves. The colors in the picture, by the way, are in an artists’ palette, which is convenient when you have many colors. The image below shows a close-up of wet gold “paint” used on ganache.
Powdered colors are very shelf-stable – we have never had one go bad, even after several years – so you can stock up a few at a time and have a nice array at your disposal. Check out the selection at Beryls. There is an actual Beryl who will answer the phone and answer any questions you might have. Tell her what you are working on and she will have loads of ideas.
I don’t “join.” I have joined, here! This was fabulous, on dry food coloring. I’d like to come here to learn and share.
I think I’ll throw a May Day party with the neighborhood. It started with a kid’s fundraiser box of creative cookie mix and thinking of filo clay. Now, “paint a cookie,” sounds like a clear winner for the yard table. A street light May Pole, Kids chasing each other with water guns and grown-ups kicking back with the neighbors to BBQ in a 4x wide driveway. Life is good.
It’s time to find out if I need to seek a permit! I feel like you gave me a whole bunch of May Day wonderful, two months early! I’m so impressed. Thank you.
You just took me back to third grade when I was in a May Pole performance at my grade school’s May Fair! Half the girl’s were in pink, the other half in purple. I don’t remember which color I was, but color was certainly part of the visual drama. It was gratifying for me to see you take baking and expound upon it in other artistic areas…one can be creative in so many ways. Welcome to our community!
Dede
Thanks! I’m after a super-simple confetti alternative! I’m having too much fun! ‘Just a joy-junkie! I’ve been back here for art supplies, twice! This is great!