NATURAL WATER-SOLUBLE POWDER DYE CHARCOAL BLACK 3G

This charcoal black colouring is part of the Patisdécor range from Cerf Dellier, a pastry equipment and ingredient supplier based in Hénin-Beaumont, France. Its ingredient list is one item: medicinal vegetable carbon E153, at 100%, with no carrier and no other colouring. It is a powder food colouring from the water-soluble range, labelled natural on the jar, and sold in a 3 g glass jar with a screw lid and a tamper seal.

In a liquid mix, a macaron batter or a meringue, add it as is. In a firmer paste such as sugar paste, marzipan or pastillage, dilute it before working it in. Diluted in boiled water or food-grade alcohol, it also goes through an airbrush. Cerf Dellier suggests 4 to 5 g per kilo of mix, with no regulatory maximum (quantum satis). Black is the hardest shade to get in pastry: in a white base such as meringue you end up with dark grey. Keep it for a base that is already dark, a chocolate ganache or a cocoa sponge, for a true black.

The colouring is not to be swallowed as is, and the powder should not be inhaled. Keep the jar away from heat, light and humidity. You will also find it in our shop, 58 rue Tiquetonne, Paris.