TIPS &
TRICKS

Both product lines are particularly suitable for different areas of application. The liquid colours are water-based and very easy to apply. An even colouring is achieved quickly. The powder colours are fat-soluble and, in contrast to the liquid colours, are suitable for fat-containing applications such as chocolate or buttercream.
Furthermore, the products differ in storage and shelf life. The liquid colours should be stored in a cool place after opening and have a shelf life of only 60 days after opening. The powder colours should be stored well closed and dry at normal room temperature and have a shelf life according to the advertised best before date.

Colourfood Professional products have a flavour of their own, which is lost in the application at the recommended dosage and therefore does not affect the flavour of the end product. Why do the colours have an inherent taste in their unprocessed state? This is because, as described above, our "colouring foods" are produced by purely physical processes and water from fruit, vegetables and edible plants. This is in contrast to "natural food colours", where the colours of the raw material are obtained by using solvents.

Colouring food is the term used to describe food ingredients that are produced from colour-intensive fruits, vegetables and edible plants and purely through physical processes as well as the use of water. Due to their colour intensity and colour brilliance, this results in a purely natural food colour for a 100% clean label application. Information on the difference to conventional food colours can be found here.

Colourfood Professional products are perfectly suited for a clean label application, as colouring foods do not contain any additives (E-numbers). According to the respective specification and application, for example, only the following ingredients need to be declared in the end product for the CFP | Liquid | Carrot-Orange: Colouring food (concentrate of paprika and carrot) or concentrate (paprika and carrot). Further information on the declaration of colouring food can be found here.

The CFP | powder is suitable for use with chocolate, couverture and cocoa butter.  The powder can be processed directly. For a particularly easy application, we recommend mixing the powder in a little neutral oil, e.g. sunflower oil, to make a colour paste. This colour paste can then be used to colour the melted cocoa butter.

The Colourfood Professional products are basically very suitable for various types of icing. You have to take into account that the liquid colours have a strong influence on the consistency of the icing, but are easier to work with than the powder colours.

You can colour egg white icing and royal icing with Colourfood Professional. However, with pH-dependent products such as cherry red, grape violet and unicorn pink, it must be taken into account that the predominantly high pH value of the egg white causes the colours to turn blue-purple. By adding citric acid (lowering the pH value), the colour tone can be corrected back towards red.

With the product CFP | Liquid | Shade Carrot-Orange, please note that the colour tends more towards yellow-orange due to the fat-soluble carotenoids and the natural fat of the almond. If a slightly redder orange is desired, a little CFP | Liquid | Shade Strawberry-Red should be added.

The Colourfood Professional products are generally well suited for use with marzipan. However, due to the dark base shade of marzipan, especially high-quality marzipan with a high almond content, the colours become less intense than, for example, marzipan with a higher sugar content and a lighter base shade.

The fat content has an influence on the carrot-orange colour, for example in sponge cake doughs. Due to the fat-soluble carotenoids and the different fat content of the baked goods, the colour can vary from apricot-orange to a strong yellow-orange. This means that the more fat, the stronger the colour goes into yellow-orange and the less fat, the more the colour goes into apricot-orange.

We recommend our powder range for the production of macaron shells. You can find colour examples with dosage recommendations here.
Please note that the macaron shells should be baked at as low a temperature as possible. Sieve the powder colouring with the almond flour several times beforehand to get a nice even colouring and wash the shells with vinegar beforehand.

The products work differently well in baking applications - depending on the respective applications. In general, it can be said that with gentle and controlled processing, the application works well with the shades carrot-orange and cherry-red, lemon-yellow, strawberry-red and grape-purple as well as the shade unicorn-pink. However, due to the outer browning, the shade on the crust also often turns brownish, even though the core of the products expresses its colour intensity. Sponge doughs can therefore be coloured very well from the inside. Especially in applications where only the crumb is used or visible, very beautiful colour results are achieved.

Baking powder can affect the colour of the colouring food. Baking powder increases the overall pH value of the baked goods, which can cause the colour of products with anthocyanins, such as CFP | Liquid & Powder | Shade Cherry-Red and Sahde Grape-Violet, to vary towards a purple shade.
Conversely, the acidity of the colours can influence the rising property of the baking powder when a high dosage of Colourfood Professional is used

The pH-value of dairy products can influence the shade of some Colourfood Professional shades. The Colourfood Professional products with anthocyanins (shade Cherry-Red, Grape-Violet, Unicorn-Pink and Chilli-Red) are pH-dependent and become bluish due to the high pH-value of milk or other dairy products (pH-value of approx. 6-7). This can be counteracted by adding acid (lowering the pH value) or by using shades that are not pH-dependent, such as strawberry red.

When using warm milk products, such as a milk foam, please note that the Colourfood Professional products with spirulina, such as the shade Spirulina-Blue but also the shade Apple-Green, are particularly sensitive to heat (from approx. 70°C). Cold foamed milk, as used for example in a Freddo Cappuccino, is advantageous here.

Cream is in principle somewhat difficult to colour, as a very large volume prevails and the colours have to be dosed correspondingly high. In addition, the acidity of the colours can also affect the structure (the milk proteins react with the acid) and deep red shades are difficult to achieve due to the prevailing pH value.
Our tip: colour a small portion of the cream. Whip the remaining cream so that it is ¾ stiff and then add the coloured cream and finish whipping until stiff.

The fat content of the dairy products has an influence on the shade Carrot-Orange. It should be noted that due to the fat-soluble carotenoids and the different fat content, for example in curd cheese, the colour can vary from apricot-orange to a strong yellow-orange. This means that the more fat, the stronger the colour goes into yellow-orange and the less fat, the more the colour goes into apricot-orange.

The pH value (see dairy products), the fat content, the overrun (whipping) and the colour of the base mass have an influence on the colour result and should be taken into account in product development.

With milk ice cream, the white background colour usually means that a little more colour has to be used than with a sorbet with a high water content. Furthermore, the colour impression can become more intense over time, depending on how much the product is frozen through.

For ice cream production, we recommend the liquid product range from Colourfood Professional. When making ice cream and sorbets, it should be noted that the colour is added at the latest possible stage of production, so that the base mass has had enough time to cool down after pasteurisation. When using a ready mix, it is recommended to add the colour before the ripening process (at approx. 5°C to room temperature). If freshly prepared, add after the maturing process.

The colours from Colourfood Professional are suitable for the production of cocktails for direct consumption. The colours are not suitable for alcoholic drinks that are not intended for direct consumption, as the alcohol attacks the colours in most cases and causes an unattractive colour and product result.

For drinks, we generally recommend the CFP | Liquid products.

•  The colour cherry-red is clear and stable in application.
•  The colour strawberry-red is clear and stable in use.
•  The colour lemon-yellow is clear and stable in application.
•  The colour grape-violet is clear and stable in use.
•  The shade carrot-orange is also stable, but cloudy due to the carotenoids it contains. For a clear application, the products lemon yellow and strawberry red could be mixed.

In the production process of sweets or hard caramel, the timing of the colour addition is crucial to achieve an optimal result. There are a few points to consider here:

The shades Cherry Red and Shade Carrot Orange as well as Grape Violet and Lemon Yellow can be used at high temperatures (around 135°C), such as for moulded candies or lollipops.

For the shades spirulina-blue and apple-green, the temperature of the base mass should only be around 90-100°C when added, as in the production of sweets on the cooling table.
We recommend to heat the base mass to about 142°C, then let it cool down and add the colours only at about 130-135°C. Please note that the colours spirulina-blue and apple-green are negatively affected by the high heat. The colours carrot-orange and cherry-red as well as grape-violet and lemon-yellow, however, achieve beautiful and intensive colour results when prepared as described.

Blue noodles are not possible with colouring foods. As the colour shade spirulina blue primarily contains the heat-sensitive spirulina, blue noodles cannot be produced. Green noodles are possible to a certain extent. For this, we recommend adding a little spirulina blue to the shade of apple green to achieve a more beautiful green after exposure to heat.

To achieve an optimal colour result, fresh noodles are much better suited than dried noodles. Dried noodles are cooked in hot water for too long for the colours, which negatively affects the colour intensity.

For airbrush application, dissolve the colours in a sugar solution (refining sugar).  For example, the solution could be composed of approx. 70% sugar, approx. 27% water and 2-3% colour.
For airbrushing with cocoa butter, please use the powder colours from Colourfood Professional.

Colourfood Professional's colouring foods can support the natural colour of fruit purees and concentrates and improve colour longevity.