Help! My Black Buttercream Is Purple!

Decorating By Odyssey Updated 19 Mar 2010 , 9:45pm by Odyssey

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Odyssey Posted 19 Mar 2010 , 9:08pm
post #1 of 5

I tried making it a good brown first with my wilton before using cake craft super-black, but it still looks purple!
Do I just keep adding gel? I'm worried the flavor will suck if I do since I've already put in so much?

Any help is appreciated. It's for a camo cake for my brother's party tonight.

4 replies
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DeeDelightful Posted 19 Mar 2010 , 9:20pm
post #2 of 5

Is this just an accent color or the main color on the cake? If you have time, i'd suggest buying a few cans of the wilton chocolate and mixing what you have made with that and then adding more black color. i cannot guarantee the black won't be bitter. Taste it before you add it to the chocolate and see if it already has a bitter taste. If so, it won't get better. Better yet, i'd cut my losses, buy a few tubes of Wilton black icing color and finish up. Worry with that homemade batch of frosting later. You will save yourself a lot of stress.

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indydebi Posted 19 Mar 2010 , 9:30pm
post #3 of 5

The rules of Primary Colors:

red + blue = purple

red + blue + yellow = black (mix the 3 primaries and you get black)

Since the colors we use are never "pure" colors, they tend to be heavy in one color or another. You see a number of threads in which the black icing looks green, indicating a shortage of red.

If it were me, I'd add a splotch of yellow to balance the purple. Adding what you already have will give you what you've already got.

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malene541 Posted 19 Mar 2010 , 9:41pm
post #4 of 5

Once again indydebi to the rescue!!!! Your full of great information!! Don't ever leave us ok?!! icon_wink.gif

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Odyssey Posted 19 Mar 2010 , 9:45pm
post #5 of 5

Thank you sooooooo much. The yellow worked like a charm! It's kinda more gray than black, but I can live with that as long as it doesn't look purple anymore.
The party's in an hour and I'm working like crazy.

Again thank you.

By the way Indydebi, I am loving the way your buttercream pipes, I can't wait to see how it smooths out and crusts up. Mom will get to judge if I keep using it for taste, but I love it.

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