From Ice Cream to Baked Goods: Versatile Uses of E153

I’ve seen E153 add drama to desserts—and its versatility goes far beyond ice cream.

E153 (vegetable carbon black) creates striking black hues in everything from frozen treats to pastries, maintaining stability, safety, and clean-label appeal for a wide range of food applications.

Here’s how you can harness its power across your product line.

1. Can E153 Elevate Ice Cream Textures and Flavors?

Ice cream’s creamy canvas welcomes bold color.

By blending 0.05–0.2% E153 into ice cream bases, manufacturers achieve deep black shades without affecting taste or mouthfeel, while ensuring pH and freeze-thaw stability in frozen desserts.

Creamy, jet-black ice cream turns scoops into conversation starters. I experimented with black sesame and vanilla bases—both held intense color even at –20 °C.

Dive Deeper into Ice Cream Formulation

When I first added vegetable carbon black to our small-batch vanilla mix, the result was mesmerizing: a velvety black that contrasted beautifully with cookie crumbles. To replicate this at scale, I follow these steps:

1. Emulsion preparation

   • Combine milk fat, skim milk powder, and stabilizers.
   • Heat to 75 °C, hold for pasteurization.

2. Color incorporation

   • Cool mix to 40 °C.
   • Disperse E153 in a small amount of warm syrup (40 °C) using high-shear mixing.
   • Target 0.1% pigment relative to total mix weight.

3. Homogenization & aging

   • Homogenize at 200 bar to ensure uniform particle distribution.
   • Age mix at 4 °C for 4 hours for optimal viscosity.

4. Freezing & hardening

   • Freeze in batch freezer, then harden at –25 °C for 24 hours.

The result: a color that survives freezer burn and light exposure, making midnight-black ice cream a reality for artisanal and commercial brands alike.

2. How Does E153 Transform Baked Goods?

Baked treats become showstoppers with black hues.

Adding 0.05–0.15% E153 to doughs, batters, or icings yields uniform black breads, cookies, and frostings, without altering crumb structure or baking performance.

I still recall the buzz when our bakery’s black velvet cupcakes launched—they sold out in a day.

Dive Deeper into Baking Applications

Baking with E153 requires attention to dispersion and heat stability:

1. Dough/batter integration

   • Sift dry E153 powder with flour to prevent clumping.
   • Mix with water, sugar, and fat at low speed until homogenous.

2. Baking parameters

   • Standard bake at 180 °C for cakes; 200 °C for breads.
   • Observe no change in rise or crumb, thanks to E153’s inert nature.

3. Icing and frosting

   • For buttercream: whip room-temperature butter, gradually add sifted E153.
   • For royal icing: dissolve E153 in the water phase before adding to sugar.

4. Shelf stability

   • Black frostings resist fading under display case lights for up to 7 days.

The black color holds through glazing, slicing, and display, giving products a premium, Instagram-ready look.

3. Why Is E153 Ideal for Gluten-Free and Vegan Treats?

Specialty diets benefit from clean-label color.

E153 contains no gluten or animal-derived ingredients, making it perfect for gluten-free breads, vegan cookies, and plant-based frostings with striking black color.

When we trialed gluten-free black bagels, customer feedback praised both the color and the soft, chewy texture.

Dive Deeper into Specialty Formulations

Gluten-free and vegan formulations demand careful binders and emulsifiers:

1. Binder selection

   • Use xanthan gum or psyllium husk (0.5–1%) to mimic gluten elasticity.

2. Fat alternatives

   • Replace butter with coconut oil or vegan margarine—both blend smoothly with E153.

3. Sweeteners

   • Combine maple syrup or agave with powdered sugar for frostings that disperse E153 evenly.

4. Color uniformity

   • Pre-mix E153 into liquid phase (water-based) for consistent hydration.

These tweaks ensure your specialty treats not only meet diet needs but also capture attention with pure black appeal.

4. In What Ways Can E153 Enhance Savory Snacks?

Savory innovations stand out with black accents.

E153 adds depth to crackers, chips, and seasonings, offering a visual cue for bold flavors—like black pepper, squid ink, or activated charcoal blends.

I partnered with a snack brand to launch black rice crackers—the contrast with white sesame looked incredible on shelves.

Dive Deeper into Savory Applications

Savory snack formulation often involves oil absorption and seasoning adhesion:

1. Chip/cracker dough

   • Incorporate E153 at 0.05–0.1% in dough mix.
   • Roll thin for even bake and crispness.

2. Oil-based snacks

   • For extruded puffs: blend E153 into oil phase before coating.

3. Seasoning mixes

   • Combine E153 with powdered spices (garlic, onion, chili) for black seasoning blends.

4. Packaging benefits

   • Black snacks photograph well on dark-mode apps and social feeds.

These products tap into consumer curiosity—leading to trial and repeat purchases.

5. How Do Beverage Creations Benefit from E153?

Beverages become memorable with bold color.

E153 works in juices, cocktails, and dairy/non-dairy drinks, offering pH stability and minimal impact on taste, while creating eye-catching black visuals.

Our black lemonade launch saw a 25% lift in social mentions, thanks to its midnight hue and lemon contrast.

Dive Deeper into Beverage Formulation

Crafting beverages with E153 involves careful solubility and stability checks:

1. Solubilization

   • Disperse E153 in a small heated water phase (60 °C) with gentle agitation.
   • Use food-grade emulsifier (0.05%) for oily mixers.

2. pH considerations

   • Stable from pH 3.0 (fruit juices) to pH 7.0 (teas).
   • No precipitation or haze formation observed over 14 days.

3. Carbonated drinks

   • Add E153 after carbonation to prevent foaming issues.

4. Shelf-life

   • Black color remains vivid under light exposure for 30 days at ambient temperature.

Eye-catching black beverages drive trial and press coverage, turning simple recipes into brand stories.

6. What Safety and Regulatory Factors Matter for E153?

Compliance ensures trust and global market access.

E153 must meet heavy-metal, PAH, microbial, and purity standards per FDA, EU, and APAC regulations, with Certificates of Analysis backing each batch.

Dive Deeper into Regulatory Compliance

At Santa Color, we provide:

• Heavy-metal screening (Pb, As, Cd, Hg ≤10 mg/kg)
• PAH analysis (benzo[a]pyrene <2 mg/kg)
• Microbial assays (total plate count ≤1,000 cfu/g)
• Particle-size distribution (D50 1–5 µm)

Supplying full CoAs and technical dossiers simplifies approval for food and beverage clients worldwide.

Conclusion

From frozen treats to savory snacks, E153 unlocks endless black-color possibilities—backed by safety and stability.

Explore our vegetable carbon black for your next innovation.