Anyone have any advice on what to do with my buttercream to remove the harsh taste that comes with dark colors? Client wanted dark royal purple buttercream, but now it has a hint of that bitter flavor that comes with red. Anyone have any brilliant ideas on what to add to get rid of it, without diluting the color?
Cake due today. Thanks!
I can hardly wait for replies - I need an answer to this as well. I am doing a graduation book cake (3 books, plus Cap on top). I cannot use the grads school colors - black, red and college colors, navy blue and red, because those buttercream colors taste horrible. I am having to do the books in pastel colors, and only letters on spine in black (candy melts). Hope we get an answer soon, I have tried Wilton and Americolors.
I think we might be on our own today Bolegs. It is Memorial Day after all. I decided to crumb coat the cake in my white buttercream. I'll just use the purple for the top coat. The less purple I have on the cake the better. But i would love to know for the future.
Just had the same problem on Thursday! I had completed most of my icing/decorating of cupcakes when it was requested that I make a few using dark blue. I was really not comfortable with the outcome. The icing had an industrial/chemical taste. Would be interested to learn more.
Some of the food colorings are less bitter than the others. I still use Wilton for most of my pastels or lighter colors, but I've really started using Americolor a lot more. Less amounts give richer colors, and less amount means less taste. A few people on here have also suggesting starting out tinting your buttercream with a pastel shade of whatever you want your final color to be, then adding the darker food color to finish it off. Like making a pink icing before adding your red, or starting with chocolate for black or brown.
I noticed in fondant it seems to be the same way, but not quite as strong of a bitter taste. I saw a tutorial the other day about using pre colored candy melts in MMF to give your base color and help with keeping a sweeter taste, then finish it off with your paste color. I haven't tried it yet, but I will on my next cake in a few weeks when my daughter turns 2. 
I don't think there is anything to be done to improve the taste with darker colors and buttercream. This is why I won't do a dark color in buttercream, except for small details. I only use fondant for darker colors, and I try to get as close of a match to the color that I need so I don't have to add as much color to get the color I need.
Good idea about using a pastel color first, then adding a little of the darker color. I bought some sugar sheets over the weekend using my 50% off coupon at Michaels. I bought the ones with the letters - I want to try to use them on the spines of my book cake. Dont let the size of the letter fool you on the package, they are much larger, which is great. I will try them on a test buttercream cake this week. Thanks for the tip adamsgama. Hope we get some more responses. Also, I did a little research on cracks in buttercream, this seems to be happening more now than before. I read somewhere by adding a couple drops of white vinegar in and mixing it in will eliminate this - cannot wait to try this. Have a great holiday all...
Sorry girls but there's nothing you can add to offset the chemical taste. That's why they suggest you airbrush crusted buttercream instead of coloring it while making it. Wilton makes a NO TASTE red but I agree with the other poster, get the intense gel colors - takes less to get results.
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