I would like to do a damaskon white fondant..what is the best way to achieve black royal icing?

Thank you )

...Same question. Only I want to use it for piping lace, stringwork. I'm afraid that adding the color will ruin the consistency of the icing. Anybody?

If adding a lot of black coloring to the buttercream or royal icing, won't the color bleed onto the cake color?

Can't comment on the bleeding, but I made black royal icing for my last cake to attach ribbon roses and just made it a little stiffer than normal so that adding the colour wouldn't make it too thin. I used the Americolour super black and it worked out just fine. My plan was if it was still a little stiff after I added the colour then I would dilute it a bit to get it to the right texture.

Thanks, Zoesmum -- have you tried to pipe with it? Will it hold fine strings?

No, sorry luddroth, I haven't tried string work yet!! Maybe make a small batch and try it out??

I have pipped with it on BC and it doesn't bleed at all, the consistency can't be to thick, and I usually make a cone out of parchement paper, like that I don't have to make a ton of icing and it's easier for me to keep control, I am pretty new at this, but if you want look at my Winnie the Pooh cake, I made the bees with RI and the trail behing the bees were traces with RI too..Hope this help.

Oh I forgot, I don't thin the icing till I am done adding color ...and americolor are the colors to use.

Remember all colors dry darker, so a deep gray will dry black. Do some testing before you try it so that you don't add too much color.

great help -- thanks all for the tips!

When I took a class and did black stringwork, Geraldine Randlesome recommended using powdered colors.
They're more concentrated and won't change the consistency of the royal much at all.
You can mix it in with the water you use in the royal.
I've done it and I like the results.

HTH
Rae

Rae -- the only powdered colors I've used are the various petal dusts, and I don't think I've seen black. Are you referring to something else?

Substitute some of the PS for cocoa powder then add LOTS of black color. HTH

I always add cocoa powder and then black coloring.

The problem is that for string work, cocoa powder changes the texture of the egg-white royal -- it will clog the 00 tips and reduce the strength of the icing for drop strings. It sounds like an easy way to color icing for use with stencils or for piping larger shapes, though...

Rae -- I just looked at your photos (spectacular Lambeth cakes!) and saw the pink one from Toba Garrett's class. I took Toba's classes in New York and made the very same cake! The egg white royal is the reciped I was referring to in my earlier post. I know that Toba did a lot of black and white cakes at one point. But I don't think any of us ever asked her about coloring the egg white royal. I'll look for the powdered coloring and give it a try. I've been wanting to practice stringwork again.. Thanks for your help in this forum.