Although most of the fake blood on the market is made with food coloring, there are several recipes that use other ingredients and ensure a realistic shade. While some replacement products are rather strange, others are commonly found in the kitchens of every home. When making fake blood for Halloween costume or to scare your friends, you have several options and methods at your disposal to find the right color, texture and viscosity.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: With Cooking Ingredients and for Home Use
Step 1. Mix pomegranate or beetroot juice with corn syrup and detergent
You can use the pure juice of these vegetables to replace the red food coloring and thus create fake blood. Combine 16 parts of white corn syrup with 1 part of powdered laundry detergent, 1 of water and 1 of pomegranate or beetroot juice; mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
- Add a small amount of chocolate syrup to get a more realistic shade.
- You can buy 100% pure pomegranate juice in stores or use the juice found in canned beetroot packages; the latter can be replaced with beetroot powder.
- The resulting fake blood is inedible and rather sticky.
Step 2. Mix some chocolate syrup with water and a sachet of Cherry Kool Aid
You can also make fake blood with this soda powder. Pour a sachet of Cherry Kool Aid into a bowl and add 15-30ml of chocolate syrup; add 5 ml of water and mix. Change the color according to your preferences; add water for a more liquid blood or other syrup for a thicker, darker mixture.
- Chocolate syrup thickens the blood and makes it more realistic.
- The mixture made with this method is edible!
Step 3. Mix a gelatin mix with flour and Kool Aid
Combine these powdered ingredients with water to get fake blood that looks real! Heat 250 ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat; add 15 g of flour, a pinch of powdered cherry gelatin (without sugar) and a sachet of Kool Aid of the same flavor. Stir the mixture until the powders have dissolved.
Stir in a teaspoon of beetroot or pomegranate juice for a more intense color
Step 4. Use tomato paste and water
One of the simplest methods involves mixing these two ingredients. You need about 4 parts of tomato paste and 1 parts of water; mix carefully to get edible fake blood.
- Add 1 part of maple syrup to make the liquid thicker and slimmer.
- You can replace the concentrate with ketchup or puree, although their color is too bright and unrealistic.
Method 2 of 3: With Pigments
Step 1. Mix red and blue paint with water
Take a medium-sized bowl and mix 2 parts of red washable paint with 1 of water; then incorporates some blue color, about 5ml for every 250ml of red paint. Mix everything with a brush or spoon until the ingredients are well blended.
- The washable paint is not edible but does not stain clothes indelibly.
- A touch of blue makes the fake blood darker and therefore more realistic.
- Mix the color and don't shake it; if you shake it, its composition causes foam to develop.
Step 2. Mix the red ink with the glue
These two ingredients allow you to recreate a thick and sticky fake blood. Pour the amount of glue you want (school glue is fine) into a disposable bowl; the dose depends on how much blood you need. Add red ink (which you can buy at fine art stores) until you get the hue you want; if you want darker blood, add some brown ink or chocolate syrup.
- You can also use the ink found in a pen refill; just cut the latter with a serrated knife and pour the contents into the glue.
- Try to use 3 parts of adhesive and 2 of color.
- To soften the red color and make the blood look more like real blood, add a teaspoon of cocoa powder at a time; this ingredient thickens and darkens the mixture making it more burgundy than bright red.
- Corn syrup and cocoa create a thicker fake blood than can be achieved with just a mixture of paint and water.
Step 3. Mix the red and blue paints with the maple syrup and water
It is generally possible to make fake blood with these ingredients. Pour some gouache or red acrylic paint into a disposable bowl, add an equal amount of maple syrup and incorporate some blue; 5 ml of pigment are enough for every 120 ml of red paint. Add the water one teaspoon at a time, stirring until you get the consistency you want.
If you want really thick fake blood, don't use water
Method 3 of 3: With Raspberry Juice
Step 1. Blend the raspberries with a food processor
You can easily get the dye from these fruits even at home; later you have to add other ingredients to thicken it and make it look like real blood. To start, put 200 g of raspberries (fresh or frozen) in the blender and blend them until they are liquefied.
15-20 seconds is enough; if the puree is too thick, add 5 ml of water
Step 2. Filter the compound
After blending the fruit, place a colander over a bowl and pour the liquid.
- The strainer should hold the seeds and solid pieces of the raspberries leaving only the fluid part to flow; you should get about 120ml of juice.
- You can throw the pulp away or save it for future baking.
Step 3. Mix the cornstarch with water in a separate bowl
Use a medium-sized container and dissolve 70g of starch in 80ml of water, stirring rapidly with a spoon to make a paste.
Step 4. Incorporate the corn syrup
Dosage about 160 ml and add it to the mixture of starch and water; use the spoon to mix everything.
Step 5. Add the raspberry juice
You need about 60 ml of liquid to incorporate into the corn paste; remember to mix carefully to distribute the color; if the hue is not intense enough or the "blood" is semi-transparent, add more juice.
It may take a few more spoonfuls of juice, depending on the shade you want to achieve
Step 6. Incorporate 15 g of cocoa powder
After mixing the raspberry juice you should have a reddish-pink liquid with the consistency of blood; to give a more natural and darker color, add about 15 g of cocoa.
Step 7. Finished
Advice
- Making fake blood isn't an exact science - you can tweak the recipe to make the fluid more or less thick, or add ingredients, like chocolate syrup or brown paint, to give it a more realistic hue.
- If you've found a recipe online that uses food coloring, you can substitute it with pomegranate, raspberry, or beetroot juice.
