Natural food coloring are made using dyes commonly found in nature, such as chlorophyll which gives plants their green color, or turmeric which is a plant commonly found in India and used for yellow coloring. Use with : Crystal sugar, chocolates, meringues, macaronsĬhefmaster® Natural Food Colors. Allow the mixture to sit 5-10 mins after incorporating the dye in order to let the color fully develop. Due to its dry consistency, it is not very easy to incorporate into thick batter, and adding too much can dry out a mix. It can also be used dry to brush directly onto food as decoration. It is important to know that it does not mix with water, so it must be mixed with a few drops of clear alcohol, or if you’re incorporating it into the batter add a few drops of alcohol into the mixture. It is perfect for mixes that are sensitive to the amount of added liquid such as chocolate or macarons. Powder food coloring is a completely dry form of food dye with no liquid. Use with : Large batches of batter or icing Because of its consistency, it is ideal for coloring large batches of icing or dough at a time.
Gel colors become deeper with time, that is why it’s important to let the mixture rest and see how it changes before adding more color. In fact the best way to add it to your mix is by collecting a teeny tiny amount using a toothpick, incorporating it into your mix, letting it rest for 10-15 mins and then repeating if needed. However it is more tricky to use as it’s very easy to add a bit too much coloring. Gel or gel paste food coloring is much thicker than Liqua-Gel and the colors are even more concentrated and more vibrant. Use with : Icing, fondant, gum paste, batter, cake frosting You can practically use Liqua-Gel for most recipe, except for fat-based product such as chocolate.īest for : Strong vibrant or darker colors This is the type of coloring that you can use with practically any recipe (except chocolate), as it’s not likely to affect the consistency of your mixture, but it’s also not as thick as Gel Paste and therefore easier to use.Ĭhefmaster Liqua-Gel® is very popular due to its versatile uses and applications. This way you will avoid ending up with a darker than desired color. If it’s the first time you use Liqua-Gel, it is always best to start by adding one drop at a time, mixing it well and then adding another drop if needed. Liqua-Gel is also water based but contains glycerine and corn syrup, which makes it a semi-thick gel and concentrated form of food coloring. *Chefmaster's Candy Colors for fat-based products (such as candy melts or chocolates) are in liquid form, and are often referred to as Liquid Candy Colors by most bakers. Liquid food coloring is best used with other liquid medium such as syrup, water, chocolate, etc. It is a good choice if you wish to achieve pastel colors, but you are after a stronger or darker color you would need to add a significant amount, which will thin out your mixture. It is watery and as such the colors are not very concentrated. Liquid coloring is made using synthetic coloring and a water base. Typical liquid food coloring that can be found in most supermarket or grocery stores. We will first discuss these various styles and how/when to use them. There are 7 types of food coloring that are all suitable to be used with different recipes or mixtures and that will give different color intensities. All these colorful little bottles and jars can be confusing if you’re new to this, but we’re here to help you and tell you all you need to know about food coloring. We’ve all ended up with cake batter a few shades too dark once upon a time, or perfectly colored but thinned out icing, because we added one drop too much or used the wrong style of food coloring.