The Fruity Ingredient That Will Turn Your Frosting A Beautiful Pink Color

Decorating a cake can be tricky, especially if you're trying to get fancy by piping flowers or writing a birthday message. But you can still make a cake frosting that shines without going the extra mile to decorate. For example, adding a little salt to your cream cheese frosting will make a big difference in balancing the sweetness. You can even make store-bought frosting tastier with a little vanilla extract or by taking an extra couple of minutes to whip the frosting. If you add a colorful frosting to your cake, you can skip the extra decorations. Food coloring doesn't have a strong taste, but there's one fruity ingredient that's sure to leave an impression — and add flavor to your frosting. 

Bright pink frosting is sure to steal the spotlight at any party or gathering, and there's a way to get this eye-catching color without using any food dyes. The secret to getting a perfectly pink frosting is adding freeze-dried strawberries. Although the gorgeous pink color is already reason enough to consider adding freeze-dried strawberries to your next buttercream, there's another way this ingredient will elevate your frosting to the next level.

Although you can top your cake with fruit or make jam for a layered cake, fresh fruit and frosting typically don't mix together well. If you use fresh strawberries to make the frosting, you could end up with runny or curdled frosting due to the berries' moisture content. By using freeze-dried strawberries instead of fresh ones, you can get the pink color you want as well as lots of fruity flavors while still maintaining the frosting's fluffy, creamy texture. To add freeze-dried strawberries to your frosting, all you need to do is pulverize them and fold them into the rest of the mixture.

Another major perk of this hack is that you can apply it to multiple types of frosting. You can modify a recipe for cream cheese frosting or classic buttercream frosting by adding some freeze-dried strawberries. However, it's recommended to reduce the amount of confectioner's sugar in a buttercream frosting recipe if you plan on adding fruit.

If you want to change things up, you can swap out freeze-dried strawberries for another freeze-dried fruit, like blueberries. Ready to try this frosting trick for yourself? With a little extra effort, the sweetness of spring and summer produce can amplify your cakes any time of year.