Presentation in the culinary world is crucial as you eat with your eyes first. You are attracted to the sight and aroma of food before you savour it. Viewing a food item in all its glory is a tantalising start to a truly delectable meal. While you can get away with no additives, including food colouring when baking at home, you cannot hope for brisk business at your quaint bakery or commercial pâtisserie without considering an enhancement in appearance.
Again, you want the colour to be safe for consumption. High purity of colour is essential. Do not hesitate to check out the available colours that are fit to be used while cooking, and enjoy adding them to natural ingredients, embellishing a beautiful cake, cookie, or any other food item so that it looks appealing to eat. Here are a few things that you need to be aware of using standard dyes, and/or pigments on food:-
Traditional Coloring
Stick with convention when you run a small and modest bakery, stick with convention, or consider a home business. The colouring consists of a liquid dye made from multiple ingredients. It is perfect when you want a light tint. Ensure using a tiny drop when you add a bit of pastel hue to light and airy wafers, or cookies. Use several bottles to get that glossy, velvety finish on mouth-watering cakes, and rich desserts. It is created by dissolving the synthetic dye in water. You will be able to buy it in small bottles that can be squeezed to obtain a small amount of colour. Experiment freely to get the desired effect and shop guilt-free as they are inexpensive.
Go natural when you want to avoid anything artificial. Check the label and only buy it if you do not find any corn or glycerin added to it. Yes! The product may be a trifle difficult to source, but keep researching to find success. You are likely to find it sold in small dropper bottles. The colours are extracted from organic sources that are usually plant-based. You will get a rich, vibrant yellow from saffron, orange from the vitamin-rich carrot, and a brilliant red from beets. Unfortunately, these colours are not too bright but produce a subtler and earthier appearance. Use it if you are focused on selling healthy products.
Powdered Dye
Go synthetic if you want to keep the costs down without reducing the attraction of food items. Choose the colouring that does not include any water, glycerin, or harmful corn syrup. This ensures high purity. It is advisable to buy them in bulk, especially when you are hopeful of the items flying off the shelf rapidly. The dyes are usually sold in tightly capped small bottles. Follow all instructions effectively. You may add just a pinch to the original cake mixture, or cookie dough, to get a uniform colour.
Colourful birthday cakes and Christmas cakes can become attractive with the thick colour brushed on them carefully. You may also dust a small quantity on top of the item to create a subtler effect. Be careful about using synthetic dyes, and always add them to the recipe during the early stages. You may find the shade altered quite a bit when you add it to a liquid, such as chocolate or citrus syrup. A dusting of powdered dye can make the item dark too. It would be best to approach with caution.
You may also turn to food lakes instead of synthetic dyes. The right hue is achieved by the dispersion of colours at different concentrations. You are sure to find a wide variety of colours when trying out the lakes. Most of the lakes are not soluble in oils but are dispersed equally. You are welcome to use the lakes freely in your bakery, especially when the prepared dough lacks sufficient moisture. It is ideally added to doughnut mixes as well. Whip up a batch of hard candies, or chewing gum, to make them colourful and fun.
Gel Dye
This product is more or less the same as a traditional dye. It contains the synthetic colour in a water base with either corn syrup, or glycerin added to it. You will find it sold in small dropper bottles, but each squeeze causes a thicker liquid with a gel-like consistency to come out of the bottle. You can use it to brighten up the final food item with a dash of vivid colour. The gel is concentrated enough to last for days.
Unfortunately, you may have to search quite a bit to source it in bulk. Do master the skills, as you would have to add the gel carefully to create the desired effect. The thick gel should be used painstakingly to spread evenly. It is best to use it on icings, and for noncommercial products. Go ahead and buy the gel in paste form if you are not too dexterous with your hands. Dig deep into the tiny jar it comes in, and add tiny amounts to the finished item meticulously with a toothpick. This will help you to avoid making a mess on the pass.
Conclusion
You eat first with your eyes. It pays to be extra careful when you want your products to sell like ‘hot cakes’, literally. Use high-quality, low impurity food colours convincingly and confidently by choosing from the incredulous array of available varieties. Write to us at info@neelikon.com to have all your doubts cleared at the earliest.
