Beet Food Coloring
I've recieved so many inquiries about the Pink Ombre Cake that I made using fruit and vegetable extract for coloring that I wanted to share a "veggie extract" tutorial. Although I didn't have the need for another 4 tier cake, I can always justify a batch or two of sugar cookies! So here is a tutorial of how to use red and golden beets to create these amaaaazing organic food colorings!
The colors of these royal icings are purely from red and golden beet extract! And I PROMISE you, you will not and cannot taste the beets! My 4 year old daughter could smell the beets while they were boiling and she got SO MAD at me when I added the beet juice to the confectioners sugar for the frosting... I mean, she was practically crying! But when she tasted the frosting she said, "wow mom, cool science experiment, does everyone know beets make different colors?" Oh, sweet sweet victory! Go ahead and eat up children - delicious and nutritions (well, kinda)!
I know, can you believe it?! The yellow color is just stunning - the pictures do it no justice. It is such a soft, pale, wonderful yellow - I'm in LOVE with it!! And the red beets created a georgous fuscia color that seemed to get even bolder as the frosting dried overnight. These colors are just georgous and perfect for any upcoming Spring and Easter baking!
The best part is that substituting organic fruit and vegetable extract for your food coloring needs is SOOOO easy - you'll never buy the chemical stuff again!
I love using beets for coloring - the colors they produce are stunning, they work soo well in baking (coloring cakes, frostings), and the prep work is simple and fast....
Golden and Red Beet Organic Food Dye Recipe
First, wash and peel your beets. The last thing anyone wants to taste in frosting is dirt, so take your time and be thorough with this step. I use a sharp knife and just peel the skins, don't waist your time with a hand peeler.
Next, cut your beets in half and in half again.
If you are using red and golden beets, prepare seperate pots for each color. Place beets in pot(s) and cover the beets with water. I used 4 medium red beets and about 2 3/4 cups of water to cover the beets.
Bring the water/beets to a boil and let it boil down to a concentrate. I waited 25 minutes. Get a bowl or mason jar and a fine mesh sieve and pour your beet extract through the sieve. This process yeilded about 1 cup of extract. I used 1/4 right away and froze the remainder in ice cube trays and then in a freezable mason jar for later use. Normally I would make a larger batch to yield at least 2 mason jars, but I didn't realize my beet stash was low (these were the last of our farm beets from this summer)!
Use this concentrate as you would with any food coloring recipe. I've used beet extract to make Red Velvet cupcakes, the Pink Ombre Cake (cake and frosting), but my favorite use is for coloring royal frosting - it showcases the colors in their most pure and natural form and it's just so pretty!
Royal Icing Recipe (with beet extract)
Yields 1 dozen 4" cookies
Ingredients
1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 Cup Beet Extract (add the extract slowly until you get your desired consistency. You can add more if you want your icing to be thinner). A good rule of thumb with royal icing is that it is ready when you drizzle a spoon of frosting and it holds "a ribbon" for 5 seconds.
Method
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and slowly add the beet extract to achieve the color and consistency you desire. For this fuscia color I used 1/4 cup of beet extract, but to make a soft pink you can add 2 tablespoons of extract to a 1/4 measuring cup and then fill the remainder with water to dilute the extract... you can play around with the colors like any food coloring - just be sure to do so in small batches so you can adjust as needed.
I LOVE sugar cookies! I always have a roll or two of homemade sugar cookie dough in the freezer - I't such a great project for kids! I've tried soooo many recipes and the one I love and is my "forever" sugar cookie recipe is from the Great Martha! Have fun with your colors and keep this in mind for upcoming Easter and Spring baking!