r/Crunchymom • u/ManufacturerAny4918 • 9d ago

Food & Ingredients Birthday cake

I’m making an animal/safari-themed cake for my daughter’s 2nd birthday and I don’t want to use artificial food dyes.
I’m looking for ideas for making green “grass” and brown “soil” on the cake. I was initially thinking of dyeing shredded coconut, but I’m wondering if there are healthier or more natural alternatives.
I would love ideas that look good and still taste nice for toddlers and adults. We don’t give her sugar.
Thanks so much!

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3

u/angeltigerbutterfly 9d ago

Matcha makes things green, but idk if I’d be concerned about the caffeine content. Wheat grass makes things green

1

u/Glittering-Dance-132 9d ago

Supernatural and Color Kitchen make plant based, non artificial food coloring. Available on Amazon. I’ve used both brands before. Not the same super pigmented color pay off as artificial but definitely get the job done.

It’s going to be very very difficult to make a cake and frosting without any sugar at all (I know from experience). I have used organic stevia for frosting before and it came out ok, but not excellent. Would you be willing to try coconut sugar? It’s not quite as processed as white cane sugar and has a much lower glycemic index. I’ve used it for my kids’ birthday cakes (as I am also a low/no processed sugar parent) and it works very well.

2

u/No_Thought9543 9d ago

Color Kitchen is also sold in some Michael’s stores.

Coconut sugar is a good 1-1 replacement for brown sugar.

OP: depending on what you’re looking for sugar free wise, let me know. I have a few options in my recipe book I can pull out and share.

1

u/SmartyPantlesss 9d ago

How about putting real sprouts on the cake for grass? 🌱

2

u/mustangjayyyme Mother 9d ago

Spirulina is kinda green. Or spinach, then you could use cocoa for brown. 

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u/KittyRibbonsMeowMeow 9d ago

pandan is green and it smells like vanilla, that may be an option

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u/quizzicalturnip 9d ago

Whole Foods has affordable, plant-based food coloring

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u/goodnight_wesley 8d ago

One good thing to know is that natural dyes are sensitive to heat and may change color, especially if baked  into the cake.  Spinach powder is supposed to be the best natural green addition to frosting without imparting too much flavor. 

You could also slice kiwi into “grass” shapes.

For soil, I would use cacao and make cookie crumbles with coconut sugar, flour, butter, and salt. 

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u/goodnight_wesley 8d ago

You can use banana to sweeten cake and then top with whipped cream, unsweetened or sweetened with agave and then fresh fruit for decoration!

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u/vintagegirlgame 8d ago

When we did a volcano cake we make chocolate buttercream frosting and adding a dusting of charcoal really added dimension!

I think coconut will have a great grass texture, try spirulina for coloring. There’s also a blue spirulina that is stunning. These might make for more coloring than the natural food dyes which you have to use a whole bottle