Of Royal Icing And Food Colouring

[Isa]

I'm having problems colouring my royal icing. I'd love to get Christmas red and dark green but I'm not having much success. All I got is some dark ugly pinkish colour and a green that has nothing in common with a Chrsitmas tree. What's the secret??

Thanks!

[mudbug]

Are you using liquid food color or concentrated paste?

[Isa]

Cchiu,

I'm using paste colour. I have Chefmaster's red red paste. The green colours I have are kelly green and leaf green. Both are made by Wilton.

[m brown]

Try using the paste colours and blending them for more intense colours.(You may want to try adding powder colours to the royal icing.) example: red, tulip red and christmas red with a little brown, same with the green, add a little brown to darken. start with a small amount, see if you get the results you want. sometimes I will use cocoa powder to darken. you just have to use a lot and remember, colours can taste pretty nasty.

[Isa]

Thanks M Brown. I'll try to get more reds tomorrow. I know Wilton makes a "no taste red" would you recommend it? I am not sure I can get powdered colours though.

[momoreg]

Red is especially nasty tasting. I have never heard of the no-taste version, but it's definitely worth a try. For Christmas green, I prefer Forest green.. As for powdered colors, I'm not totally sure but try NY Cake 1-800-94-cake9

[Isa]

Thanks Momoreg. I am curious about why would red has more taste then the other colours?

You can get powder colors used mostly for sugar but they're so intense I use them for other items as well. Even in buttercream by making a small slurry with water. Momoreg has the web address that was posted elsewhere for the International School of Confectionary Arts. Or try Albert Uster at 1-800-231-8154

[momoreg]

I don't know what chemicals they use to make red, but it has a much stronger taste than some of the other colors.

[Isa]

Thanks everyone, found some red food colouring in powder, worked like a charm, it made a wonderful shade of red. Now if I could only find green and blue in powder I'd be really happy.

This month's Bon Appetit also had a section on royal icing and making Christmas colours with Wilton gels..(the right mix, etc.) as an fyi.

[lynne]

Sisi,

I've found powdered colours at places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. The large crafting stores. Also, the local specialty cake supply places have them. If you're in doubt of where to find them, check with a local cake decorator.