Wow, does time fly! My daughter is already close to her 14th month and I hadn't finished my post about no artifical coloring and additives in my daughter's first homemade birthday cake. It is amazing how much I have learned in such a short amount of time.
I knew that I wanted to make a cake with no artifical food dyes, so I started reading the ingredient lists of the foods I was used to buying for making cake, cookies and brownies. (When I made something "homemade" it meant it came from a box and I put the liquid ingredients in it before baking. LOL!) Well, I am here to tell you it is so hard to find natural coloring agents in these processed foods. I am happy to say I was able to make a homemade cake for my daughter that was edible and colorful without all the artifical dyes. I have decided to make one of my new household rules to include no artifical coloring in any new foods I buy. First let me tell you why I made this new rule.
So, what are the potential dangers of artifical food dyes? Could they be linked to ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) in children? This is an important topic for me, coming from a background in providing services and therapy to children with these kinds of behavior issues. The answer is yes! Even the American Academy or Pediatriricans published findings on this back in 2008. There is so much information out there and so much that we still don't know (backed by scientific evidence), but sometimes we as mothers just need to do things because of the "what if's". At this point in my daughter's development I don't know if she will have ADHD, but I have counseled many parents and children that struggle with this every day. I don't like the idea of putting young children on medications they will have to take for an unknowing amount of time. I have seen the side effects of these medications and I don't want to subject my child to this lifestyle if I can do something about it. So, here begins our journey of no artifical dyes in our food.
Okay, so here I am, as a new mom and wanting to do the best for my daugther. Of course I am going to make her a birthday cake of some sort. So, what do I decide to tackle, a Rainbow Cake. It seemed to be an easy to understand recipe. Let me tell you, sometimes people forget about those of us that don't cook often. They forget to put specific directions or time frames in their recipes and that makes it so difficult for me who is a "by the book" cook. So, long story short, I did manage to make my first non-artifical colored cake for my daughter's birthday. I had so much fun mixing the colors into the cake, it felt like I was back in science class doing an experiment. I definitely think this will be something I will do again with my daughter as she gets older. I think it would work with Easter eggs as well. Here is another great idea for a Rainbow birthday party I just saw recently, A (Naturally Colored) Rainbow Party - 100 Days of Real Food. I will post a picture of the cake I made. It was good, but so sweet. I think next time I will probably try a different cake recipe with less sugar. It was not an organic cake by any means, but it accomplished my goal of no artifical dyes and I will use those natural coloring techniques again. My next dessert I want to try is a naturally colored red velvet cake made with beet juice.
So, do you have any other ideas for natural food colorings? How do you make cakes and cookies that are colorful without all the artifical dyes?
