With all the brightly colored fruit and veg readily available and packed with natural colors, it never has been easier to boost your health with the best nutrients, even if you’re vegan, whilst indulging in your favorite sweet treat!
Beautifully colored party cakes and bright cupcakes with colorful piped icing used to come at a price, that price being to forego healthy eating by consuming artificial colorings. This is no longer the case. Cakes can be colorful with luscious, fluffy icing whilst remaining committed to your healthy eating diet by using beautiful, vibrant, natural, plant-based food colors. These rich ‘colors of nature’ include, for example, annatto, turmeric and beetroot as ingredients, each being otherwise known as a vegan food that provides great health benefits.
Healthy switch example
For example, you may wish to make blue cakes. Once, the only option was to reach for the blue artificial coloring. Artificial colors have been associated with brain tumors and other health issues, many of which are banned across Europe. It’s not a difficult decision to make to instead choose a beautiful, natural color such as one based on spirulina extract which is known to be a vegan superfood, but not only that, it also makes the most vibrant and colorful icing!
Sometimes there may be a little compromise on the performance of the color, as natural colors are heat sensitive, so you may wish to use them in frostings and icings or low heat recipes, like mini cupcakes with a shorter baking time. This really is a small price to pay for party cakes that are natural and vegan.
Celebration cakes for vegans
Whether you are just having an afternoon at home cooking and baking for the family or making preparations for a party with vegan guests, you will be happy to be using your natural and healthy food colors. You can be sure your party will be vegan-friendly too with recipes like our vegan frosting, alongside all the amazing ‘party-bright’ colors.
Healthy cakes, flavorings can be natural too
Don’t compromise on flavor in the quest to be totally natural, healthy and vegan. For best flavor and optimum healthy benefits, always choose a food flavoring made from a natural plant based extract. The artificial ones are harmful and unhealthy just like artificial colorings, and are best avoided. Plant extracts provide an intense but truly natural and healthy flavor to your recipe as well as being vegan. There are so many to choose from including apricot, banana and almond to name a few.
All natural for a healthy, vegan life
These days, we all know about the amazing health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables which provide us with a plentiful supply of disease-fighting antioxidants. Who would have thought iced colorful cakes could also be included on our list of foods to bring health and happiness to the family? Time spent in the kitchen has never been more beneficial and rewarding.
-by Jackie Gardener, freelance writer