Candy toppings that don't come with a warning
We've celebrated a few birthdays this month and I'm always struggling with fun toppings for cakes and cupcakes. On one hand, I want something colorful, festive, and fun! On the other hand, I stay away from using all those candies and sprinkles with artificial food colorings. These are the dyes such as FDC Blue #1 and so forth that you may see on labels. Recent studies link these artificial dyes to hyperactivity and behavioral disorders in children (allergists have been pointing at these for decades!). In fact, the usage of these dyes is being discontinued and banned in the UK by the British counterpart to our FDA. Here's a recent article for those who want to read more about identifying and avoiding these potentially very harmful chemicals in our food.
OK, so that's the end of the public service announcement portion of my blog. Now the good news is that Trader Joe's commonly uses natural food colorings in their products. For example, their lollipops are colored with ingredients like turmeric and beets. Sounds much healthier than FDC Yellow #5 and FDC Red #40.
I recently discovered candy-coated Chocolate Sunflower Seed Drops. They're colorful, delicious, and have a soft crunch. They also make a great cupcake decoration! The colors are perfect for autumn celebrations. The colors are from turmeric, beets, caramel, and spinach juice. Don't worry, they don't taste like any of those things...just sweet and chocolate-y! The sunflower seed taste is very mild and just adds a richness to the flavor.
Cupcake topping:
Enough for about 4 dozen mini-cupcakes or 2 dozen regular
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Sunflower Seed Drops
1) Beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla together until it stands in stiff peaks
2) While the whipped cream is in the bowl, hold each cupcake upside-down and dip into the bowl so that the top is covered with cream. Remove with a twist. This is a quick and easy way (Thanks Ann!) to quickly coat each cupcake.
3) Sprinkle with Chocolate Sunflower Seed Drops.
Posted by Deana Gunn at October 30, 2008 
Categories: Product Reviews, Food Recipes, Favorite Products
Categories: Product Reviews, Food Recipes, Favorite Products
I'm glad I'm not the only mom that avoid all those neon colored candies and foods. I really worry about artificial colors and flavors, so I love natural alternatives. I don't want to deprive my kids or myself of fun treats, but eating something that turns your tongue bright blue just can't be good for you.
I do like those sunflower seed drops. They're quite addictive!
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Thanks for the heads up on the sunflower seeds. Those will have lots of great uses for me. I looked around a bit on the web and was amazed at all the info about artificial colorings. A little scary that they're so prevalent and potentially harmful.
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Great tip, thanks!
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I used this idea to decorate my boyfriend's cake last weekend. I figured the colors were masculine but it would still look pretty. I sprinkled on the whole container of sunflower seed drops! Everyone was asking me what they were.
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From a mother who's trying to be more health-conscious, it's nice to see an alternative to sprinkles laced with artificial colors, flavoring, and God knows what else! I will be sure to give this a try next time I make cupcakes or cookies that require sprinkles. Thank you
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