Last year around the time of Earth Day I saw a little “party blurb” in a magazine showing folks how to have an “Earth Day Party.” Said magazine may have had good intentions, but they didn’t have a clue about green entertaining. Over a year later, what stands out in my memory from the article is the image of grotesquely colored “earthy” cupcakes in bright blues and greens. Now, I know plenty of kids eat food coloring in a variety of forms from candy to mixed drinks, but really, how many of you moms (or dads) out their feel good about tongues dyed bright blues and dark green? Hopefully, food coloring bothers you and hopefully, you’ll understand my desire to find my way around making a cute cake without using anything fake!

Confession #1: I am a food snob. I like my food pure and it irks me to no end that natural food colorings are few and far between and that your standard decorated cake is made with shortening and other nasty ingredients. I believe that consuming most cakes is not worth my time, especially, when the frosting is slick, slimy and sweeter than heck. Coloring did exist before the invention of Red Dye #7 and Yellow Dye #8 and whatever other kind of nonsense that is put in food these days. And, cakes have been made and decorated with frosting long before the invention of Crisco.

Confession #2: I LOVE Birthdays, Holidays and any events that result in people gathering to eat good food and sweet deserts. And, although getting together should be all about the camaraderie and what not, in my own home I cannot abide fake food (see confession #1). And so, when entertaining, I put a fair amount of work into “making food from scratch.” My son’s first birthday is rapidly approaching and this mom has kicked it into high gear!

Confession #3: I am an over achiever and perfectionist at heart, but in practice I am a little too scattered and disorganized to be perfect. Nonetheless I try  — sometimes I am successful and sometimes I must admit failure. For the most part, I’ve learned that in the kitchen practice, planning and the right tools do pay off. So, with the next 18 years in mind, I am learning how to properly decorate cakes — with the plan to make a crazy decorated birthday cake every year for the next 18 years ( if he lets me).

Below is a picture of my first attempt. Despite the fact that the cake started out round the frosted end is not nearly round enough. And, I although I am a food snob and normally can’t abide fake food, I must admit that I broke down and bought a tub of pre-mixed Wilton icing. I figure that my current goal is to learn how to make pretty things, so it makes sense to use icing that is pretty much guaranteed to work. Once I get the hang of things and the feel for a good icing, I will venture into making my own.

I can make a tasty cream cheese frosting, but my dear friends, frosting is different from ICING, which is what I need to decorate a cake. Frosting may cover a cake, but it doesn’t satisfactorily hold shapes and designs. However, as I mentioned before, cakes were not invented in 1960 and so the recipes and supplies for making decorating quality icing without all fake ingredients, preservatives, and food coloring must exist. And, despite Wilton’s claims otherwise, I am sure that icing made without shortening, can stand the test of time!

If anyone out there has a recipe for fantastic all natural icing (it doesn’t have to be bright white) or any recommendations on natural food colorings (for icing) please let me know! I promise to test your recipe and publish the results right here on Green Me!

Reminder: the next edition of the Carnival is coming up! Jessica at Practical Noursihment will be hosting this edition!