My daughter's friend has developed a food dye allergy and her mother would like to make her birthday cakes at home, is there a decorating/professional alternative method for dyes and gel colors? TIA!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EQ5BXA/?tag=cakecentral-20

Good luck,

Jen

Beet juice, or the natural color from added from fruits and berries.

Amoretti (http://www,amoretti.com) has some natural flavors and colors that are somewhat stronger than the India tree ones. They are a little expensive and have only just started selling these in small amounts, because they are totally dedicated to professionals, but they are generous with samples and have absolutely no minimum purchase required.

Natural Candy Store.com, they have a thing of natural food dyes. I got them for my son who has basically an allergy to dyes. You won't get a real good red out of them, but they work well. Pricier than normal food colors, but that's to be expected across the board for the natural stuff.

Oh, and they also have the BEST candy canes at Christmas time! Seriously! So good, you'd never look back at the cheap ones again. Worth it so my son can have candy canes like everyone else.

We've tried the India Tree natural food coloring for customers with food dye allergies...they are much more expensive and don't work nearly as well as the food dyes. For these customers we now offer only "black and white" designs with chocolate and vanilla buttercream.

Yes, agree with the amoretti info. Chef master also makes natural dyes but the bases are full of "stuff" and they do not seem to work well or taste very good.
You can get all natural, naturally colored modeling chocolate, colors and powders (more coming) at chocolate craft colors.

Check out your local health food/organic store. Ours stocks natural food colors. Not sure the brand. I want to try it for red velvet. I just hate pouring a whole 2oz bottle of chemical dye into it so I usually cut it in half.

All great ideas, names taken and notes! Thanks everyone!