I'm suppose to make a cake this week that has cool whip as the icing (I know this isn't a good idea but customer wants it like this). My problem is that it's supposed to be dyed red and I know cool whip doesn't really hold well. I''m assuming that as I add the red dye, it will start to 'melt'. Is there any way to stiffen cool whip and add the red dye to it as well?

Any suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated. I've been looking online and have yet to find anything.

Thanks!

I have added Cool Whip to partly-set red gelatin (Jello and other brands) without it going flat. So maybe you want to try dissolving the gelatin mix into a small amount of water and adding it as you would also stabilize whipped cream. In that case the food colouring also goes into the gelatin and will not melt the Cool Whip.

Are you thinking of liquid colors or gel colors? I would guess that the gel colors would not affect the consistency of the Cool Whip.

I've found cool whip to be hard to handle sometimes. You would have to fold the color in which is hard to do and get an even solid color, stirring the color in would flatten a lot of the cool whip, as can working it too much. What I would do is take a tablespoon or two of cool whip add the color to that and then incorporate that. Suggest to your customer that you use part cool whip and part meringue or part whipped cream, unless there is a dietary reason for using Cool Whip.

Here is a Yahoo answer with some ideas to thicken Cool Whip
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090704113624AAUEgrU

PS. What exit?

Rich's Cream and/or Bettercreme are basically unwhipped cool whip. You can add the red color and whip it up yourself for a far more stable product than trying to mess with the Cool Whip in the buckets.

I bet cool whip can be re-whipped and if so why not melt some unflavored gelatin color it red after it is melted and whip it into the cool whip. That way it will stabilize it more too. Can't hurt to try. Use store brand first before you use actual coolwhip brand.

I use Cool Whip for vegan and allergy clients. I have found that the more it is manipulated, the runnier it gets. I just added toasted coconut and the folding was making it break down. I decided to add the coconut rum and just use it as I would a creme anglaise. Customers love it, but it is definitely not stable.

I have stiffened cool whip with vanilla instant pudding. It will change the flavor though. IMO it tastes better with the pudding.

Thanks all!