How to Colour Red and Black Icing (Without wasting food colouring)

Red and Black Are Different from Every Other Colour

If you've ever tried colouring fondant or buttercream black or bright red, you'll know they behave very differently from other colours.

While pastel colours only need a tiny amount of gel food colouring, red and black often require much more to achieve a rich, vibrant finish.

The good news is there are a few tricks that can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration.

When Making Fondant, Buy It Already Coloured

This is probably my biggest tip.

If you're decorating with fondant, I almost always recommend buying pre-coloured red or black fondant rather than colouring white fondant yourself.

Many people assume coloured fondant costs more, but in most cases it is the same price as white fondant.

The reason is simple.

The colour is added during the manufacturing process, before the fondant is finished. It isn't made by taking white fondant and mixing in huge amounts of food colouring afterwards.

Trying to colour white fondant yourself usually means:

• using a large amount of gel food colouring
• spending more money on colouring than buying ready-made fondant
• ending up with fondant that becomes softer and stickier from the extra gel
• spending far longer kneading than decorating!

For large cakes especially, buying pre-coloured black or red fondant is usually both the easiest and the most economical option.

Find pre-coloured icing here at Kiwicakes

Colour Develops Over Time

One mistake many beginners make is trying to achieve the final colour immediately.

Gel food colours continue to develop after they've been mixed into icing.

If possible:

• colour your icing the day before you need it
• cover it well
• leave it overnight

You'll often find the colour has become noticeably deeper by the next day, meaning you needed less colouring than you first thought.

Add Colour Gradually

Every brand of colouring is slightly different, and every batch of icing is different too.

The amount of colouring needed depends on:

• how much icing you're colouring
• which brand of colouring you're using
• whether you're colouring buttercream, fondant, royal icing or chocolate
• how dark you want the final colour

Start with a small amount, mix thoroughly, then continue adding colour a little at a time until you reach the shade you want.

It's much easier to add more than it is to make icing lighter again.

WE stock a wide range of brands at Kiwicakes Find them here

How to Make Black Buttercream

Black buttercream is one of the hardest colours to achieve using food colouring alone.

One of my favourite tricks is to start with chocolate buttercream.

Adding cocoa powder gives the icing a much darker base colour, so you'll need far less black gel colouring to achieve a rich black finish.

This saves colouring and often produces a deeper, more natural-looking black.

Black Cocoa Powder – My Favourite Alternative

If you really want an intense black buttercream, there's another option that many decorators don't know about.

Black cocoa powder creates an incredibly dark buttercream with very little or even no black food colouring.

It produces a dramatic black finish that's perfect for modern cakes, Halloween cakes, and themed celebrations.

It's also a great choice if you're trying to reduce the amount of food colouring you're using.

The buttercream on this cake was made by me and coloured using black cocoa powder, producing a deep black finish with no black food colouring.

Best Products for Colouring Black and Red

At Kiwicakes, I recommend using concentrated gel food colours for your buttercream rather than liquid colours.

Because gel colours are highly concentrated, they provide stronger colour while adding much less liquid to your icing.

For fondant, however, I'd still recommend buying ready-coloured black or red fondant whenever possible to save both time and money.

For Chocolate use Oil based colours as gel or liquid colours will cause chocolate to seize and become unusable. You can also buy pre coloured red and black chocolate, which can work out cheaper, depending on how much you need

Find colouring at Kiwicakes here

Making Red Velvet Cake? Don't Use Red Food Colouring

If you're making a Red Velvet Cake, there's one tip that can make a big difference.

Many people assume they should simply add red food colouring to their cake batter. While this will certainly make the cake red, using large amounts of food colouring can leave a slight metallic or bitter aftertaste.

Instead, I recommend using LorAnn Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion.

Unlike food colouring, Red Velvet Emulsion is specifically designed for baking. It produces the classic rich red velvet colour while also enhancing the flavour of your cake, rather than masking it.

It's one of our best-selling baking emulsions at Kiwicakes and has become the preferred choice for many home bakers and professional cake decorators.

If you're baking a Red Velvet Cake, save the gel food colouring for your icing and use Red Velvet Emulsion in the cake batter instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't my buttercream turn black?

Black develops over several hours. Starting with chocolate buttercream or using black cocoa powder will also reduce the amount of colouring required.

Why is my fondant becoming sticky?

Too much gel colouring adds extra moisture to the fondant. This is why colouring large amounts of white fondant black or red can become difficult.

Why is my red icing pink?

Red is another colour that develops over time. Leave it overnight before deciding whether it needs more colouring. (It won't deepen to red from pastel pink, you should have it almost red first)

Should I use liquid or gel colouring?

For fondant and buttercream, concentrated gel colours produce much stronger colour without changing the consistency as much as liquid colours.

About the author

Sandra Boston has been helping Kiwi cake decorators since 2006 through Kiwicakes. With 20 years of experience testing cake decorating products, ingredients and tools, Sandra shares practical tips based on real-world use.