Creating desserts with dark and white chocolate is great, but sometimes you may get bored with the restricted choice of colours. Since my recent post about the simple chocolate painting technique I’ve felt the urge to find methods to dye chocolate so I could paint more elaborate pictures.

The difficulty is that chocolate doesn’t mix well with regular liquid food colouring, so I decided to go with powder alternatives instead, some of them homemade. I refrained from using artificial food colouring. It’s not that I condemn it because of fear of health risks – It’s rather because I like being challenged. The fact that I, erm, don’t have access to artificial colouring powder might count as a reason as well. Colouring with natural ingredients is more fun anyway because it enhances appearance as well as flavour!

I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting and came up with 15 ways to colour and flavour white chocolate naturally. But I’m sure there are a lot more ways to do it! I would be glad if you shared your own ideas in the comment section.

In all the examples here, I melted regular white chocolate in block form, mixed it with the corresponding powder and let it harden in a silicone mold. (If you like it, you can buy it here). Per piece, I mixed 8 grams of chocolate with 1-4 measured pinches of powder (1 pinch = 0.5ml). And I sieved the powder whenever I could.

Top: coconut, kinako and cinnamon chocolate. Bottom: original white chocolate block.

Orange zest, turmeric and chili chocolate.

Red berry, red beet & kinako and red berry & cornflower chocolate.

Cornflower, seaweed and green tea chocolate.

Black sesame dessert powder, poppy seed and black sesame chocolate.

 

How to make White Chocolate with Coconut


Simply mix in instant coconut milk powder. I used 3 pinches for one piece.

  • Colour: Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I think the coconut chocolate is whiter than the original white chocolate.
  • Flavour: Didn’t really taste like coconut! I blame it on the poor quality of the instant powder.

 

How to make Beige Chocolate with Kinako


Kinako (toasted soybean flour) is available at Japanese grocery stores, but you could also prepare  it yourself by following this recipe here. I added 3 pinches.

  • Colour: Very nice and even colour that can be used if you’re aiming for sand or skin tones.
  • Flavour: Kinako on its own is a disgrace but mixed with sweet stuff it’s delicious (try kinako ice cream!). The taste will remind you of peanut butter.

 

How to make Brown Chocolate with Cinnamon


2 pinches of ground cinnamon, that’s all there is to it.

  • Colour: Well, it’s brown. Not too exciting…
  • Flavour: Fabulicious! Looks like regular chocolate but tastes different.

 

How to make Yellow Chocolate with Orange Zest


You need an organic, thoroughly washed orange and zest it. Heat the zest in the microwave for about 5 minutes until it’s dry and grind it in a mortar or with a machine. I used 2 pinches.

  • Colour: Nice orange-yellow! Depending on how finely you grind it, texture is more or less visible.
  • Flavour: Quite a pronounced orange aroma with a bitter note that fits perfectly with white chocolate.

 

How to make Yellow Chocolate with Turmeric


Turmeric powder is easily available at Asian markets. I added only one pinch.

  • Colour: What an intense and consistent colour! It has a hint of ochre in it.
  • Flavour: Not too good. It tasted a little soapy to be honest. Next time, I’ll definitely add less powder.

 

How to make Orange Chocolate with Chili


I ground Korean chili for this one and added 2 pinches. Korean chili is superb, seriously.

  • Colour: Beautiful grainy orange.
  • Flavour: Not bad at all, but very spicy! Probably best in combination with dark chocolate.

 

How to make Pink Chocolate with Red Berries


For this one, you need to grind freeze-dried red berries. Regular dried berries won’t do because they’re too chewy. It may be difficult to find this, so here’s a trick: buy Kellogg’s Special K Red Berries cereal and pick out the fruit pieces :-D. I used a freeze-dried berry selection with strawberry, red currant and raspberry. Pinches added: 3.

  • Colour: Gorgeous pink with little grains.
  • Flavour: Fantastic! An intense fruity aroma with a bit of a sour note. This flavour is certainly a crowd-pleaser. Be sure to make a big batch!

 

How to make Red(ish) Chocolate with Red Beet & Kinako


I used a little trick for this one: Mix a bit of kinako powder with and equal amount of red beet juice and heat it in the microwave for a few minutes until it’s dry. Grind it and you have sort of an instant red beet powder! I used 3 pinches.

  • Colour: It’s not a profound red – it’s more like pinkish red wine colour I guess.
  • Flavour: Much to my surprise it didn’t taste like beets at all. It tasted like a mixture of fruits and nuts.

 

How to make Purple (?) Chocolate with Red Berries & Cornflower


Grind freeze-dried red berries and dried cornflower (see blue and pink chocolate for more information) together. I used 3 pinches.

  • Colour: Well, it was supposed to look like purple but actually, the colour is rather unidentifiable…
  • Flavour: The berry flavour was dominant.

 

How to make Blue Chocolate with Cornflower


Cornflower (not to be confused with cornflour) is a flower with an intense blue colour. It’s also known under the Latin name Centaurea Cyanus. Getting dried cornflower petals is probably a bit difficult. Try your luck in stores that specialise on condiments or tea. I ground the cornflower with a few grains of salt and used 2 pinches.

  • Colour: A pale, greyish blue with texture.
  • Flavour: Nice, but not a very distinct aroma. It reminded me a bit of lavender.

 

How to make Green Chocolate with Seaweed


Don’t say I’m crazy! Commercially sold seaweed chocolate does exist after all. I used Aonori, which is a type of Japanese seaweed (often used as an okonomiyaki topping), but other types of thin dried seaweed layers should work fine, too. Roast the seaweed before grinding. I used 2 pinches.

  • Colour: Pale olive green with little grains.
  • Flavour: It’s chocolate with an intense seaweed flavour! Without a doubt, it does take getting used to. You either hate it or love it.

 

How to make Green Chocolate with Green Tea Powder


Simply use matcha green tea powder. You should be able to get this in Japanese grocery stores. One pinch was enough.

  • Colour: A very strong, dark green and even colour.
  • Flavour: Green tea chocolate is rather bitter, but delicious. Don’t miss out on that one.

 

How to make Grey Chocolate with Black Sesame Dessert Powder


I used black sesame instant dessert powder that I bought at an Asian grocery store. I think you’re supposed to make hot sesame dessert soup with it (?). I added 4 pinches of it.

  • Colour: Light grey colour with a few grains.
  • Flavour: It’s okay, but not delicious. Doesn’t compare to the real thing at all.

 

How to make Grey Chocolate with Poppy Seed


Roast the poppy seeds and grind them. You won’t get powder from this but it will blend with the chocolate anyway. I used 2 pinches.

  • Colour: A grainy grey with a hint of brown.
  • Flavour: I didn’t really like it. It tasted a bit like rubber. What went wrong?

 

How to make Grey Chocolate with Black Sesame Seeds


Roast and grind, just like the poppy seeds. I used 3 pinches.

  • Colour: Dark grey with black grains.
  • Flavour: Yummy! Intense roasted black sesame flavour with a hint of bitterness. One of the most popular flavours of this selection.

 

Your head is spinning with more ideas? I’d love to hear them.

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61 Responses to “15 Ways to Naturally Colour & Flavour White Chocolate”

  • Such nice ideas! Thanks so much for this post – very educational and inspirational even to someone like me who does not like white chocolate :-)

    • Jojo Krang says:

      Thanks! To be honest, I’m not a fan of white chocolate either :-P But it does taste totally different when mixed with things like freeze-dried berries or black sesame.

  • What an inspiring post. Thanks for taking the guesswork out of this for us.

  • JEN KIM says:

    fascinating post! i’m with the comments about not liking white chocolate, but i love korean red chili powder and black sesame, so this sounds amazing :-)

  • Gala says:

    I’m amazed by your creativity!
    The colors are gorgeous and would’ve never thought of using some of the ingredients. Who knew orange zest could be so intense!

  • Gala says:

    And you’re swiss!
    Toller blog, echt!
    Love all your ideas, truly inspiring!

  • Memoria says:

    Wow. What a lot of information and great process photos. I know whom to turn to if I ever need advice about chocolate! :)

  • I absolutely love this post. It’s so detailed, informative and creative!

  • ANGY says:

    wonderful, wonderful and great idea ! thanks for your comment ! friendly from France !

  • Lisa says:

    I really enjoyed reading your post, so creative! Such great results, thank you for posting this.

  • paULA says:

    Very creative – thanks! Can I ask what you use for forming the chocolates – would a silicon ice-cube tray do the trick?

  • Amatō says:

    Jojo,
    wegen Zutaten, schau mal bitte hier rein:
    http://www.mcc-shop.com/epages/61253754.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61253754/Categories
    das ist ein Molekular-Shop in Deutschland(sind leider nicht ganz billig).
    Dort bekommst Du interessante Zutaten.(z.B. freeze-dried fruits)
    Der Bereich der molekular Küche ist spannend für “solche” wie ich und Du.(technische Zucker!!)
    Du lebst in der Schweiz, so könntest Du dort bestellen, aber ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass es so etwas auch bei Dir gibt.
    Matcha würde ich dort aber nicht kaufen, rate auch von den Maronen und Aromen ab, habe gerade Erdbeere hier, die ist widerlich, total künstlich.
    Amato
    Pati-versand ist auch gut, da habe ich die “Steine” auf dem Tiramisu her.Kennst Du die? Sind auch preislich ok.

    Deine Sachen finde ich echt abgefahren.:-)Die Schokoladen Ideen sind super.

  • Alissa says:

    For another blue you can try freeze-dried blueberries and for another yellow saffron would work nicely (great flavor as well).
    I have some leftover white chocolate chips so I’ll have to try out a few ideas this weekend.

    • Jojo Krang says:

      Thanks Alissa. I’d like to get my hands on freeze-dried blueberries in the near future. I imagine saffron chocolate would definitely have a nice flavour… and intense colour, like saffron risotto.

  • Wendy says:

    Love these too!

  • KElsey says:

    Hey I was wondering if you had any pictures of chocolate paintings you have made with the colored chocolate? I am thinking about trying this and it would be neat to be able to see a finished one.

    • Jojo Krang says:

      Well, a part of the mafia chocolate spoon which I posted about earlier was painted with coloured chocolate.
      I’m planning on making more elaborate chocolate paintings in the future but haven’t decided on a subject yet :-)

      Would be nice if you sent me a photograph of your finished artwort, I’d love to see it!

  • Top table cakes says:

    Hi,
    Thank you so much for posting this, I can’t wait to try it. Everything looks so beautiful. I have to make 20 white chocolate and raspberry cheese cakes for a wedding and wanted to decorate the outside of the cheesecakes with strips of white chocolate with squiggles of pink coloured chocolate now not only will the chocolate be pink it will actually be flavoured!! Thanks once again.

    • Jojo Krang says:

      20 cakes, that’s quite a lot of work! You’re a professional I reckon. White chocolate and raspberry cheese cake… sounds delicious. I’d love to see the result.

  • This page is helpful for me to choose the correct product.

  • Babs says:

    With the Beet red, is there something else I can use instead of kinako powder? eg almond flour?

  • Oberstminga says:

    The best chocolate is from cocoa from Central and East Java in Indonesia- and incidentally the best coffee (and cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cardamon, etc.
    Try finding an online store.
    The taste difference between what we get in Europe and the real thing is amazing.

  • Jude says:

    Amazing, amazing, amazing! I WILL be following some of your tips & ideas!

  • CKDLR says:

    red berrie choc… mmm….

    ckd

    ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohh! i want the cinnamin chocolate one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TEHE!!

    lr

  • what a great, thorough post! i love all these ideas and especially love your little molds. where did you get those?

  • Amber says:

    And what a challenge! You’ve done a great, thorough experiment here. Amazing.

  • Shelley says:

    I love these ideas. I came here from a search on natural food colorings, I am making my wedding cake soon and was looking for ideas on making my own coloring for frostings and marzipan. Thanks for your great inspirations. I am wondering if lemon zest and lime zest would work as well as the orange did. Guess I will have to try it. Thanks again!

  • Amira says:

    Very nice post..I tried rose flavour, mint, ginger, cardamon, orio, saffron too and they are also interesting.. check them out

  • Abby says:

    I tried to make the poppy seed one, it tastes so much better if you DON’T roast the poppy seeds.
    Great ideas, I’m making a chocolate castle.

  • I love the way you decided to color white chocolate using natural ingredients. Not only you added color but unique flavors.
    Thanks

  • mostlymartha says:

    Did you temper the white chocolate when you did these? I wanted to know if adding any of these ingredients would interfere with the temper.

    • Jojo Krang says:

      hi mostlymartha
      I melted the chocolate very slowly on low heat and then mixed in the other ingredients. The consistency turned out pretty good I think.

  • Venus says:

    Is this edible? I saw the chili powder one, i was wondering if it’s edible! hahaha :) I really like all these, could i take the pictures for my White Chocolate Project? :>

  • Becky says:

    Thank you for such a great post, so helpful with all the instructions and photos. I have been teaching myself more about making handmade chocolates for work and this is just brilliant!

  • Oliver says:

    I wanted to make a suggestion about the cornflower chocolate you made: you might consider trying making a decoction of cornflower petals in vodka (vodka is primarily water and ethanol, so it has the least flavour) and then straining the petals out of the decoction and putting it in a mug on a coffee-warmer to gently evaporate the alcohol and water (the last bit will take a while). You’ll be left with a bright powder of all the colouring the alcohol extracted and it will colour your chocolate as brightly as the petals themselves

    • Jojo Krang says:

      Thank you for the advise, this method seems great!

    • Joe Foley says:

      Oliver this is great but you don’t say how long to let it steep. I’m guessing you could do this for other petals as well, do you think it would work on dried fruit or veg?

      I also don’t have a coffee warmer so what would we do instead?

  • cookingmymy says:

    i love the idea!! so you melt the chocolate with microwave? then mix it with powder you want, and then put it in a silicon mold? or you mix powder and chocolate and then you melt it?? I’m french so I don’t understand all the steps, can you tell me more? thanks!!

  • Jackie rawal says:

    This is pure genius!!! It has inspired me to try a fewdifferent flavours out with white choc! Thank you !

  • Gilly says:

    Thank you so much for taking the time to provide all this amazing well laid out information. I’ll start trying then out now In time for Christmas gifts!

  • Luke says:

    This is fantastic. I’ve only recently starting making chocolate from scratch using raw cocao beans and raw cocao butter. Once I’ve mastered the basic process I’m going to starting playing with interesting flavours and this article is perfect for getting started.

  • I.D. says:

    I tried the cinnamon – if you add a little less, or stir it only lightly, the visual effect is kinda grainy (it looks tasty!) – but it will still taste perfectly smooth & gorgeous. Finely ground instant coffee gives a similar effect and also tastes totally amazing!

    I’ve also tried mint – dried mint finely grinded – tastes great & gives (depending on how much you add) a light green colour.

    Taste wise I attempted ginger – I wasn’t too impressed but a few of my “testers” quite liked it.

    Chilli & Orange zest are next on the list… might give a small amount of turmeric a shot… also thinking about trying paprika powder. The beetroot also must be tried, and although I have no clue how it will work out, I’m thinking of trying out olives (chopped/dried/ground)… maybe!

    Thanks for the idea’s – The sky is the limit :-)

  • SaraH (CAKE SPA) says:

    Thanks for this fabulous article, I love working with chocolate and often use as decorations on cupcakes etc. Can’t wait to try out some different flavours as feel so much happier giving to the kids when its not got lots of artificial stuff in! Great inspiration- thank you :)

  • Darelle says:

    Thanks so much for your post. I’ve just started making my own chocolates – for my children – and I wanted some natural colourful and tasty alternatives.

  • Anissa says:

    Great post! Have you tried white chocolate with smoked paprika? pretty amazing too (in the red tones) :-)

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