What are food colors for confectionery?

Every confectioner knows: any dish should surprise with both taste and beautiful design. In addition, the use of food colors for confectionery products is absolutely safe. They are harmless, but the dish will please the sweet tooth with its colorful and original. It is important to know what kinds of such substances are available and when to use them.

Dyes of natural origin

As a basis for them, juices of berries, fruits, herbs are used. Natural food colors for confectionery products are easy to prepare at home. They do not require synthetic additives, and all ingredients are easy to find. But if you want to buy them, they will cost a little more than synthetic ones.

Natural food colors for confectionery products are divided into species according to color:

• Red color is made from crushed berries of the appropriate shade or beet. To get it, you have to boil the selected material in acidified water, and then filter it.
• Blue is simply done - mix indigo with starch.
• To obtain a yellow dye, you need saffron (prepare a solution with alcohol or plain water) or lemon zest.
• Similarly, an orange dye is obtained from the orange peel.
• Green is made from spinach, and brown is made from burnt sugar or infused coffee.

Of course, it is possible to obtain natural food colors for confectionery products and when mixing the above colors. Unfortunately, bright colors with the help of natural ingredients will not work, so they use them exclusively at home.

Synthetic food colors

Such dyes are obtained in laboratory conditions from organic substances. They do not contain food products. Such food colors for confectionery products have the following advantages:

• They are easier to store;
• Easier to process;
• The color is bright and saturated.

Moreover, these are the food colors for confectionery products, the price of which will delight any pastry cook. They cost from 30 to 400 rubles, depending on the type and volume. Dyes are water-soluble and fat-soluble. The first can be bought in liquid, dry form or in the form of a gel. The second - in liquid or granular. They paint all kinds of confectionery items.

Types of dyes

1. Liquid. To paint mastic or cream, use water-soluble dyes in the form of liquids. They usually have a short shelf life. Their consumption is higher than that of dry ones.
2. Powder coloring agents. First you need to make a solution of water or alcohol. Usually they paint small elements of dishes. Dry dyes instead of powders can be sold in granules.
3. Candurines. These are so-called mother-of-pearl dyes. They are used to make spangles in sprinkles and gels to decorate cakes. To make candurin, you need to mix 1-2 g of dye with 1 kg of neutral gel. Stir the mixture thoroughly.
4. Pastes. These are very thick dyes. Their concentration is much higher than that of candurins or other gels. Used pasty dyes for the coloring of ice cream, mastic, dough and creams.
5. Gels. Gel dyes are used in the same place as the paste. These substances do not smell and are neutral to the taste. To paint 1 kg of cream or mastic, you will need only a couple of grams of gel.
6. Fat-soluble food colorings are perfect for decorating fatty creams and white chocolate. But they can not be used to color a protein cream - they just will not mix with it.
7. Sprayable dyes. Sometimes there is a need to create a soft color on the product so that no splashes remain on the surface. You can find such food coloring for confectionery: Moscow has many shops where airbrushes are sold. This device has a thin needle, through which it is possible to spray the dyes without the formation of droplets.

The best dyes for use

Before you use any substances for cooking, you need to first find out which ones are better. Confectioners are advised to paint their favorite dishes in the first place with dry dyes. The main thing is to choose a good product from a good manufacturer. The best option will be Indian dyes. They can be chosen from a wide range: there are both natural and synthetic.

How to paint mastic

This can be done with dry dyes. You can paint in two ways:

1. The first is easier to implement. To do this, add lightly warmed water to the powder. The resulting solution is added to the mastic gently, on a droplet, so that the resulting mass is saturated. In this case, the mastic retains its structure. This will not work with the use of gels - the mass will be unstructured and softened.
2. The second method requires a lot of time. About 100 g of mastic should be mixed with a teaspoon of powder. We wrap the resulting mass in a film and put it in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours, but not less than 5. The dye will be absorbed into the mastic after this time. After that, we carefully mix it. The resulting mastic will be bright and rich, it can be mixed with unpainted mastic.

Powdered fat-soluble dye is advisable to use for painting a greasy cream or glaze. The resulting confectionery product will please not only its taste, but also its appearance.