please tell me how to achieve a true red for the Red Hat Society cake. Is any brand of red coloring better than another? Would air brush technique help hold the true color and not fade to pink? Please advise. THANX

I did a red cowboy hat out of fondant and airbrushed it with plain old 'grocery store' brand red food coloring. { of course I use a quart size from the wholesale grocer !!!} anyhow, It took 2 coats of the red, and then I highlighted/toned it with a bit of black and it took a really good red color and no fading.

Thanks for responding. You used that much color? Did it color the mouth when eaten? Would you suppose a coat of black or brown under the red would help?

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-608447-0-days0-orderasc-red.html

kakeladi - that site keeps kicking back an error. Please advise. THANX

Try these. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Had to work today

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-608086.html
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605038.html

I also did a red cowboy hat and used red fondant called regal ice-check out my photo in the album . x

I did a red hat cake a while ago, (should be in my pics). I used red when I mixed the icing, and then sprayed w/ wilton red while it was still a little bit wet, I sprinkled it with red sparkles by wilton. It added just a little bit of zip and from what I can remember, it didn't turn anyones mouth totally red, or taste bad. Just my input.

Edited to say: It is the larger version of the cake on page 2 w/ the purple fondant ribbon & roses on it.