Instructions/Tips

Each individual packet of Color Garden® pure natural food colors delivers enough color to frost one medium-sized cake (roughly sixteen ounces of frosting). The single-use packet is designed to be used all at once. Remember: these are all-natural colors; they do not contain any artificial preservatives. As a result, these pure natural food colors will spoil if mishandled. It is therefore best to use the entire contents of a single package.

You can mix pure natural food colors like you would mix paints: red plus blue makes purple; yellow plus blue makes green, etc. Please do not expect bright vibrant “iridescent” colors like you may have seen with artificial colors. Color Garden® pure natural food colors are softer, more muted, more pastel than artificial colors.

Please also remember when working with natural colors that they are sensitive to heat. While the batter may be a beautiful deep red color when it goes into the oven, it very likely will come out of the oven brown. Sorry, no natural red velvet cake with Color Garden® pure natural food colors!

Further, please remember that warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) prefer an acidic environment. You might consider adding lemon juice. On the other hand, cool colors (green, blue, and purple) prefer an alkaline environment. You might consider adding baking soda. Lastly, if you do not follow our recipes and make icing or frosting from scratch (we thought you were a Food Network star!), and instead use a pre-made icing or frosting, then watch out for cream of tartar. Cream of tartar lowers the pH of the icing (makes it more acidic), which is good for shelf-life, but this may limit pure natural food colors to the “warm” colors: red, orange, and yellow.

Of course, you can always augment pre-made / store-made icings with your own baking soda, half-and-half, egg whites, sugar, and/or butter. These ingredients will neutralize cream of tartar and let your inner artist out!