Do you have to go colorless when avoiding artificial colors?
 
The NYTimes recently ran an article called "Colorless Food?  We Blanch", claiming nobody would want to eat food anymore if manufacturers didn't use artificial colors.   It was a little ridiculous.   One response to it is found here.

To make the basic pony part, I greased a pony-shaped cake pan, mixed up 4 cups of liquid with enough gelatin, and let it set up in the fridge.  I use unflavored gelatin; Knox comes that way in packets, but I buy it in the bulk section of a local health food store.  To make the pony pink, I used fruit punch as 3 cups of the liquid, and 1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt; I used kefir ‘cause that’s what was in the fridge!) to make it opaque pink instead of transparent red.  Use twice as much gelatin as you would normally; otherwise it will fall apart when you flip it out of the pan. (Mine did, thus the recommendation to double the gelatin!)  It might anyway, but at least you’ll be upping the chance for success.

I baked a rectangular cake big enough for the pony to fit on and frosted it with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting.   I set the pony pan in a sink of hot water for just a couple seconds, then flipped the pan over the cake so the pony landed in the right place.  Then I decorated with the purple frosting, and carved a horn out of a stick of jicama.  (I was going to use the tip of an ice cream cone, but we were having jicama for dinner.)  Voile!  Everyone’s happy!

Fluffy Blueberry –Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
½ c. sugar
1 Tbsp. Ultra Gel
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla 

Combine blueberries and sugar; either puree them in a blender until smooth, OR cook and stir until boiling; cool.   Beat cream cheese until smooth, add butter, blueberry mixture (cooled if you cooked it),  Ultra Gel, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and fluffy.  Let stand 5 minutes. 

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Ultra Gel needs five minutes to fully absorb liquid; that’s why I’ve added the 5-minute wait time.  These frostings are easy to adjust- if too thick or pasty, add a little (1-2 tsp.) water, or as needed.  If too thin, sprinkle on another 1 tsp. Ultra Gel and beat it in. 


The cream cheese frosting recipe I tweaked to get this, above, as well as the white base layer:

No-cook “cooked”
Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

½ c. sugar
1 Tbsp. Ultra Gel
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz butter (1 stick), softened
¼ c. milk
½ tsp. vanilla

Stir together sugar and Ultra Gel, set aside.  Beat cream cheese until smooth, add butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar mixture.  Beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes.

 

Another variation I’ve come up with, in case you don't use table sugar at your house:

Fluffy Honey –Cream Chese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
3 T. water, milk, or cream
½ tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. Ultra Gel

Beat cream cheese until smooth; add butter, honey, water, and vanilla.  Sprinkle the Ultra Gel  on top, then beat all until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Happy Easter! and good Passover!  For a short video about our Savior's role, and what this week means to us, see His Sacred Name: An Easter Declaration.  I'm grateful to have this holiday as a reminder of His life and willingness to do our Heavenly Father's will.  Eggs remind us of the promise of life from something that looks only like lifeless, tomb-like stone.

The yellow eggs were dyed using curry powder, the orange ones used onion skins.

When you dye eggs using natural colors, put water, a little vinegar, the eggs, and your 'dye' in a pan.  Boil to both cook the eggs and set the color. (See here to get The Perfect Hardboiled Egg.)  The colors tend to be softer and often muted- you won't get stop-sign-red anywhere.  Each egg ends up a little bit unique, though.  That's part of the beauty.  The vinegar helps the dye penetrate and set.  Use about 1 Tbsp for every 2-3 cups of water.

I'd heard that eggs should be washed first, to prepare the shells to accept the dyes.  I tried it and noticed no appreciable difference between the washed and unwashed eggs.  So save yourself the time.  Use eggs straight from the carton.  Or chicken, if you're so fortunate.  (NOTE:  the older the egg is, the easier it wil peel!)

For cool effects:
Before cooking/dyeing:
-draw on it with crayons
-wrap it with rubber bands or yarn
-dab, wipe, or drizzle on a little oil or melted wax.
-put 1 Tbsp. oil in the cooking/dyeing water.  This will make some marbled irregularities on the eggs.

After cooking/dyeing:
-sprinkle with salt while still wet
-for a more marbled or mottled egg, rub it a little while it's still warm.  Or pat/rub with paper towels. 
-let the eggs cool while still draped, wrapped, or sprinkled with what you used to dye it.  (See photos.)
-partially- or completely- submerge in another dye.  
-draw on it with markers when dry

To make it gleam, rub a little vegetable oil on the egg after it has cooled.

Ideas for dyes:
Blue to Purple- grape juice, red grapes, blueberries, red cabbage, blackberries, violets
Brown- white oak bark, juniper berry, coffe, barberry twigs, black tea
Buff- crushed walnut shells, green tea
Golden Orange- onionskins (yellow onions)
Orange- turmeric, ground cumin, onionskins plus beet juice
Mauve- grape juice
Green- spinach, kale, alfalfa, parsley, carrot tops.  Or dye an egg yellow then dip in blue dye.
Pink- beet juice- let eggs sit for 30 minutes in it (liquid from a can of beets, or from cooking them)
Reddish Purple- paprika, skins from red onions; beets- boil in the juice, shredded, sliced, or chopped Yellow- Boil with 1-3 Tbsp. turmeric or curry powder, or dye when already cooked- use 1 tsp. turmeric and 1/4 tsp. vinegar in 2/3 c. boiling water

These were dyed using 1 Tbsp. curry powder in just enough water to cover the eggs. The two lighter eggs were pulled out immediately when fully cooked. The others were cooled in the colored water, with a tray of ice cubes added to help them stop cooking.

Fill the pan with eggs, stuff it as full as you can with your dye (onionskins, here), and bring it to a boil.
If you're using a spice or a powder, use 1-3 Tbsp.

For comparison:
Clockwise, starting with upper left: (1) boiled and drained to cool; (2) boiled and covered with wet onionskins while cooling, (3) boiled and left in the hot dye until completely cool, (5) plain white store egg, (6) plain brown store egg.

Each egg ends up a little marbled, a little unique.  I  find them fascinating to look at.

Any place your fingers, spoon, pan, paper towels, or other eggs touch, the dye will be lighter.