Homemade Naturally-Dyed Sugar Sprinkles

Wed, May 14, 2014

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I have been using my homemade {naturally-dyed} sugar sprinkles a lot lately, starting with my Mardi Gras cake, next on Homemade Easter Peeps, and most recently on top of cookie pops. DIY sugar sprinkles are so easy to make and the beautiful pastel colors from the natural dyes are perfect for spring. By making your own sprinkles you will save money, you can easily make a small batch, and it is a fun science and learning experiment for the whole family.

All it takes is a couple of drops of liquid dye to color the sugar so the flavor of the natural dye goes pretty much unnoticed when paired with the sugar. Use your imagination to come up with fruits and veggies to use as dyes. Spinach juice, carrot juice, orange juice, berry juices (all giving slightly different pink-purple hues) and beet juice are just a few of the options.

Homemade Naturally-Dyed Sugar Sprinkles

Author: Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 15 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 1+

Use your imagination to come up with fruits and veggies to dye the sugar. Spinach juice, carrot juice, and berry juices (all giving slightly different pink-purple hues) are just a few of the options.

Ingredients

Sugar (or superfine sugar)
Spinach juice
Carrot juice
Raspberry (or beet) juice
Blueberry juice
Blackberry juice
Lemon or orange rind (if you don't mind the citrus flavor)

Instructions

Juice the spinach leaves for a natural green dye.
Place the frozen berries in the microwave and cook for about 30 minutes until the berries begin to pop, using the berry juice for a natural purple or pink dye, depending on the berry.
Juice carrots for a natural orange dye.
Juice beets for a natural pink dye.
Place ½ cup portions of sugar into three bowls.
Dye each sugar, a drop at a time, using each of the natural food dyes.
Mix the sugar well with a metal spoon to incorporate all of the juice/dye and get an even color.
Add more color as desired, and continue stirring to create a smooth, even color in the sugar.
As you work on the other sugar sprinkles, the sugar will harden and form a little bit of a crust which makes it act more like a store-bought sprinkle.
Store extra sugar sprinkles in a sealed jar or container in the refrigerator.