How to Make Purple Food Coloring? | Theundergroundboston

Unveiling the secret to creating the perfect shade of purple food coloring at home is an adventure into the colorful world of culinary arts, where natural ingredients meet creativity. In our comprehensive guide, “how to make purple food coloring,” we dive into the art and science of crafting this vibrant hue, ensuring your culinary creations stand out with a splash of color. This article is the result of extensive research and experimentation by culinary experts who understand the importance of using safe, natural options for adding color to your favorite dishes.

Discover the versatility of purple food coloring, from enchanting lavender-hued frosting to rich, royal purple cake layers, and learn how to achieve these shades using ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen. Whether you’re a seasoned baker looking to ditch artificial colors or a creative home cook eager to bring a pop of color to your dishes, our guide provides step-by-step instructions, expert tips, and alternative methods to suit various dietary preferences.

Join us as we explore the fascinating world of homemade food coloring, where we’ll not only show you how to create a beautiful purple but also inspire you to experiment with natural colors in all your culinary endeavors. Let’s embark on this colorful journey together, transforming ordinary dishes into extraordinary masterpieces with the power of nature’s palette.

Table of Contents

What You Need To Know To Make Purple Food Coloring:

Purple food coloring can add a fun, vibrant pop of color to all kinds of recipes and decorations. But store-bought purple food dye can be full of artificial ingredients. Luckily, it’s easy to make natural purple food coloring right at home using just a few simple ingredients.

This article will walk you through everything you need to know to make your own homemade purple food coloring. We’ll cover:

Mixing food coloring to create purple
Making different shades and tones of purple
Using natural ingredients for purple coloring
Extra tips for best results.

Mixing Food Coloring to Create Purple

The primary colors red and blue can be combined to create secondary purple. To make standard purple food coloring, start with a blue gel food coloring and slowly mix in red, adjusting as needed to reach your desired purple hue. Gel food color is ideal because the concentrated formula means you need less to achieve bold coloring. Aim for approximately a 3:2 ratio of blue to red at first for a nice purple, then tweak from there. Too much blue will give you more of a periwinkle, while heavy on the red creates fuchsia. Find the right combo for the exact shade of purple you want.

Making Different Shades and Tones of Purple

Once you’ve created your base purple food coloring, you can easily adjust it to create all kinds of fun variations. Here are some ideas:

Lighten the purple with white to make beautiful pastel purple tints. Add white food coloring, vanilla extract, or milk little by little until you reach the desired lightness.
Darken with black for deep purple shades. Introduce black food coloring slowly for better control over the darkness.
Mute with gray for more subtle, elegant purple tones. Mix in a touch of black along with white to tone down the vibrancy.
Cool down purple with more blue for an orchid or violet effect.
Warm it up with extra red to get closer to fuchsia.

Natural Purple Food Coloring

For those wanting to avoid artificial dyes, natural purple food coloring can be easily created at home. Here are a couple handy options using things you may already have in your fridge or pantry:

Pureed red cabbage boiled in water makes a striking purple. Increase boiling time for darker hues. Strain liquid into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.
Mashed blueberries also produce a vivid purple coloring. Cook blueberries briefly and strain, following similar process as red cabbage.

You can play around with blending the red cabbage and blueberry juices to create different natural purple shades. Other alternatives like grape juice or purple sweet potato can also provide purple coloring. Just keep in mind these may add more flavor compared to blander red cabbage or blueberries.

How To Make Different Purple Hues Food Coloring?

To create various hues of purple in food coloring, you can alter the combination of blue and red. Begin with an equal mixture of blue and red, then adjust the amount of each color based on your desired hue. For a blue-purple shade, start with purple and gradually add blue. The more blue you add, the stronger the blue undertones in the resulting purple hue. On the other hand, to achieve a red-purple shade, introduce red to the purple mixture. The more red you add, the more apparent the red undertones will become in the purple hue.

Name	HEX	RGB	CMYK
Greek Flag Blue	0E55AD	14, 85, 173	92, 51, 0, 32
Egyptian Blue	0E1EAD	14, 30, 173	92, 83, 0, 32
Trypan Blue	340EAD	52, 14, 173	70, 92, 0, 32
Purple	6A0DAD	106, 13, 173	39, 92, 0, 32
Purple Munsell	A20EAD	162, 14, 173	6, 92, 0, 32
Flirt Purple	AD0E82	173, 14, 130	0, 92, 25, 32
Amaranth Purple	AD0E4C	173, 14, 76	0, 92, 56, 32

How To Make Light Purple (Tints) Food Coloring?

To create light purple (tints) food coloring, mix white with purple. The amount of white you add will determine the intensity of the color. Adding more white will increase the lightness.

Name	HEX	RGB	CMYK
Purple	6A0DAD	106, 13, 173	39, 92, 0, 32
French Violet	8410D6	132, 16, 214	38, 93, 0, 16
Singapore Orchid	9B26EF	155, 38, 239	35, 84, 0, 6
Medium Orchid	AF52F2	175, 82, 242	28, 66, 0, 5
Lavender Floral	C37DF5	195, 125, 245	20, 49, 0, 4
Mauve	D7A8F8	215, 168, 248	13, 32, 0, 3
Pink Lace	EBD4FC	235, 212, 252	7, 16, 0, 1

How To Make Dark Purple (Shades) Food Coloring?

Mixing black and purple food coloring creates a darker shade of purple. Gradually add the black food coloring to the purple to avoid overpowering it. Adjust the amount of black food coloring to achieve a less intense color. Experiment with different proportions to find the desired shades of dark purple.

Name	HEX	RGB	CMYK
Purple	6A0DAD	106, 13, 173	39, 92, 0, 32
Amarklor Violet	5A0B92	90, 11, 146	38, 92, 0, 43
Indigo	4B097A	75, 9, 122	39, 93, 0, 52
Persian Indigo	3C0762	60, 7, 98	39, 93, 0, 62
Dark Purple	2D0649	45, 6, 73	38, 92, 0, 71
Russian Violet	1E0431	30, 4, 49	39, 92, 0, 81
Xiketic	0F0218	15, 2, 24	37, 92, 0, 91

How To Make Muted Purple (Tones) Food Coloring?

To make muted purple food coloring (tones), you can mix purple with a small amount of gray. Gradually add gray to the purple until you achieve the desired level of mutedness. Remember, the more gray you add, the more muted the purple tone will be. Additionally, you can create tones by mixing purple with its complementary color, which in this case is yellow. Experiment with adding different amounts of yellow to achieve the desired muted purple tone.

Name	HEX	RGB	CMYK
Purple	6A0DAD	106, 13, 173	39, 92, 0, 32
Indiviolet Sunset	67189F	103, 24, 159	35, 85, 0, 38
Rebecca Purple	652394	101, 35, 148	32, 76, 0, 42
True Purple	632F89	99, 47, 137	28, 66, 0, 46
Eminence	613A7E	97, 58, 126	23, 54, 0, 51
Cyber Grape	604572	96, 69, 114	16, 39, 0, 55
Independence	5E5167	94, 81, 103	9, 21, 0, 60

Additional Tips for Best Results

Here are a few more pointers for working with homemade purple food coloring:

Since natural coloring comes from actual foods, it won’t produce quite as vivid or intense shades as artificial dyes. Expect softer, more pastel-like purples.
Beware of staining! Red cabbage and blueberry juices will likely leave purple stains. Take precautions when prepping and storing.
Refrigerate any extra homemade food coloring in airtight containers for up to a week. Purple hues from natural foods can fade quickly with time.
If your purple starts turning brown, add a pinch of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) powder to help maintain color.
Amount needed can vary widely based on the recipe and ingredients. Start with small amounts of coloring and gradually increase to desired vibrancy.
When working with cake or icing batters, add liquids or gel colors slowly. Too much liquid can make the batter runny.

With the simple strategies in this article, you’ll be ready to create stunning purple foods and decorations using homemade coloring made from natural plant-based ingredients. Vibrant purple cake layers, smoothies, frostings, pancakes and more are all possible with food coloring you can feel good about.

Nia_Grace

Nia Grace is the owner and head chef of The Underground, a new quick-service restaurant in Memphis. After surveying the area’s dining landscape and speaking with local residents, she determined that there was a lack of restaurants offering international cuisine. Drawing on her own multicultural background (her parents are from Guyana and Jamaica), Nia has created a menu that features dishes from all over the world. Her goal is to provide Memphians with a variety of flavorful options that reflect the city’s diverse population.

4 thoughts on “How to Make Purple Food Coloring? | Theundergroundboston”

Emmett Schuman

30/11/2023 at 05:04

That is a simple blend red#3 and either blue#1, for lighter purples, or blue#2, for deeper purples. Avoid using red#40 it is slightly orange in hue and only produces a muddy greyish purple. If using the 4 packs generally available keep in mind that blue will overpower red so add more red than blue.
Nia_Grace

30/11/2023 at 05:04

Thanks for your share!
Raven Arnold

30/11/2023 at 05:05

You could try mixing Blue and Red colourings. I have 2 purple food colourings one is Lavender the other Violet. The Lavender is a redder purple and the Violet bluer and slightly darker.
Nia_Grace

30/11/2023 at 05:06

That sounds good!