I made a cake like the one on the link last night....but boy, did I have a hard time getting the buttercream dark!!! I added cocoa powder and black food coloring. It ended up looking like a greyish silver color. It looked nothing like the pix. How do I achieve that color...do I buy DARK cocoa??

http://www.cakeamerica.com/baby-shower-cakes/polka-dot-id-217-799.aspx?biz=219-252

well some people melt dark chocolate into their buttercream but i havn't tried that. I found this recipe for you on the net that looks pretty dark maybe you can try this and yes it is using a dark cocoa:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucindalunacy/2333091631/

HTH

I use Dutch process cocoa (e.g. Droste or Hershey's Dark), and people always ask how I get my icing so dark. I sometimes use a mixture (50-50) of regular and dark, because it tastes better, but isn't quite so dark.

Adding a little brown icing color (not black) can help, too.

Thanks for the advice