Coloring Agents

As with flavors, artisan confectioners are best advised to use coloring from naturally occurring ingredients such as purées, rather than from manufactured products. There are times, however, when artificial color may be needed to augment an existing product, such as kiwi purée, which is discolored by exposure to heat, or to provide all of the color, as when synthetic flavorings are used. Most food dyes are not affected by the heat that develops in cooking jellies, so they can be added at any point during the process. Still, it is common practice to add them at the end of cooking, after the requisite water has been removed, in order to more accurately judge the amount of color required.