Natural Food Dye!

My son, Nathanael, turned 2 yesterday! So for his birthday I made him a train cake. For a few years now, we've been avoiding food dye, because of the ingredients, effect on the body, etc. We never had to worry about coloring things before Nat came along. But I wanted a little color to his train. I researched and experimented to find ways to naturally dye his cake. Of course, the natural dye does not color as vividly as artificial coloring, it's more on the pale side, but pretty!

Here's what I came up with. Red cabbage works for soooo many different colors! I also found that the longer the dye refrigerated , the darker the dye turned out. Here are the recipes:

Blue Dye:

- Half of a head of red cabbage.
- Water
- Baking Soda

1. Wash the cabbage and cut out stem.
2. Cut (I used my food processor) into small pieces.
3. Put into pot and add just enough water to cover the cabbage.
4. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Right after I turned the heat off on the stove, I added 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
6. Stir. Drain dye into bowl. Discarding the cabbage. Once cooled, refrigerate.
7. Use as desired!

Green Dye:

I used half the blue dye above and put it into a saucepan, added about 1/2 teaspoon of more of baking soda. Simmered for 25 minutes.

Purple Dye:

Follow blue recipe, except omit the baking soda and add about a teaspoon of vinegar.

The following are non-cabbage dyes. The pink is SOOOO pretty (and easy)!
Pink:

1 Can of beets drained. Use the drained juice to color your frosting.

Yellow: I was expecting this to be green, but it made my frosting yellow.

1 Package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained.

Cut into small pieces. Put into pot with 4 cups of water. Simmer for a few hours. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Drain.

Will post pictures soon!