Sprays and food colouring to add colour to your baking

There are many options for tinting and decorating a sweet dish. Sweet *n Fairy, a shop specialising in the sale of baking ingredients, discusses the types of sprays and food colourings and which texture to choose from: gel, liquid, powder or spray.

Which food colouring should I choose?

In order to add colour to your cakes and other preparations, it is first of all essential to determine which texture of pastry food colouring to choose in order to obtain the desired result.

You can choose between two types of dyes to tint your preparations in the mass.

Water-soluble food colours

Water-soluble dyes dissolve easily in water and can be distinguished by different textures:

• Powdered food colouring: for colouring preparations such as macaroons or meringues.
• Liquid food colouring: use to add colour to liquid or creamy confections, such as baked goods, making sure to add a drop more to achieve the desired colour after baking.
• Gel food colouring: perfect for colouring in macaroons, sugar or marzipan and cake mixes, among others.

Fat-soluble food dyes

Fat-soluble dyes dissolve in fatty substances such as butter, cocoa, etc. They are also found in various textures:

• Powdered or liquid food colouring: useful for colouring preparations with marzipan, white chocolate or butter.
• Gel food colouring: for tinting rather greasy and oily textures.

Pastry dyes for decorating cakes

There is also a series of sprays and food colouring for pastry exclusively dedicated to the decorative phase of your preparation:

• Metallic, iridescent or pearlescent food colouring can be used to enhance the finish of your cakes, cupcakes, marzipan, sugar paste, etc.
• Pastry dyes in spray form offer the possibility to give a velvet or glitter texture or to even out the colour of your preparation.
• Coloured cocoa butters are designed for decoration and colouring of chocolate.

A pastry food dye adapted to each preparation

Choosing a food colouring for pastry depends on the type of preparation to be made, but also on your habits and preferences.

Cake designers agree that gel dye is the most interesting. Indeed, it can be used on almost all pastries. On the other hand, liquid dye is more difficult to work with because it changes the texture of the preparation.

In many cases, gel pastry dye is used for sugar paste and cakes, while powder is used for macaroons and liquid for airbrushing.

Want to know more about sprays and food colouring for baking?

The Sweet *n Fairy shop specialises in the sale of materials and ingredients for sweet and savoury preparations. If you have any questions about sprays and food colouring, please contact us by phone or via the contact form.