After successfully coloring Easter eggs with natural dyes and making green eggs and ham with spinach juice (not to mention all of the controversy surrounding chemical food colors) I have been wanting to try coloring buttercream frosting with natural dyes.
I know what you’re thinking: spinach or beet juice in my buttercream frosting?! Yuck! But you will be amazed at how you don’t even taste them, especially with the small quantities being used. I didn’t taste anything different with the beet juice {pink} or the carrot juice {orange} frostings. I tasted the slightest hint of grape with the grape juice {purple} frosting but that’s actually a good combo and I think a large part of that was because I knew what was in it. As for the spinach {green} frosting, admittedly the one with which I had the largest mental block, I didn’t taste anything different on the first day. When I tried it the next day after it had been refrigerated I tasted something slightly different but it didn’t taste like spinach and it definitely wasn’t bad. The real test, however, was with my family and all four colors passed. My son licked off all of the frosting first – just as he would have with plain buttercream frosting – and asked for more! As far as I’m concerned, I would much rather have him consume a little spinach, beet or other natural dye than a chemically-produced version. And the process creates a fun family learning experience, allowing your kids to experiment with different fruits and vegetables to dye the frosting.
This frosting experiment came at the perfect time because the pastel colors from the natural dyes are just right for spring and Easter cupcakes. Generously spread the frosting on the cupcakes of your choice.
To make pink frosting, mix 1/4 tsp beet juice with 2 Tbsp frosting. (I just used the juice from a can of beets.)
To make purple frosting, mix 1/4 tsp grape juice concentrate with 2 Tbsp frosting. (*Make sure that the brand of juice you use doesn’t add food coloring!)
To make green frosting, mix 1/2 tsp spinach juice with 2 Tbsp frosting.
To make orange frosting, mix 1/2 tsp carrot juice with 2 Tbsp frosting.
Other promising natural dyes that I didn’t try:
Red/pink: pomegranate juice
Bluish/purple: blueberry or blackberry juice
Orange/yellow: golden beet juice
TIP: Be sure to refrigerate any leftover frosting in a sealed container.
- 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 Tbsp milk
- Beet juice
- Grape juice concentrate
- Spinach juice
- Carrot juice
- Cream the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk until a smooth frosting forms.
- Divide the frosting into separate bowls to make the different colors.
- Adding the fruit/veggie juices will affect the consistency of the frosting so you can add more powdered sugar or reduce the amount of milk to compensate for the added liquid.
- I made small quantities for experimental purposes but you can use the following ratios for any batch size.
- You can also change the shade of color by adjusting the amount of fruit/veggie juice.
- To make pink frosting, mix ¼ tsp beet juice with 2 Tbsp frosting. (I just used the juice from a can of beets.)
- To make purple frosting, mix ¼ tsp grape juice concentrate with 2 Tbsp frosting. (*Make sure that the brand of juice you use doesn't add food coloring!)
- To make green frosting, mix ½ tsp spinach juice with 2 Tbsp frosting.
- To make orange frosting, mix ½ tsp carrot juice with 2 Tbsp frosting.
