How many drops of Americolor purple should I add to 1Duncan Hines cake batter to = a med. shad (not too dark where it might also taste nasty, yet not too little to = pastel/lavender). I don're really have a lot of time to experiment this week so any help from members that have actually dyed white cake before would be FABULOUS.
Thanks
Delynn
Thanks I'll try your suggestions. I had wondered if it might be the same as when I add color to my BC icing before I add the confectioners sugar; muted before PS then super intense after the PS. The cake is for next week so, if I remember, I'll post the results. 
had wondered if it might be the same as when I add color to my BC icing before I add the confectioners sugar; muted before PS then super intense after the PS.
UMMMMMMMM.....
Adding colour before the sugar? Meaning at the stage where you have butter and maybe shortening?
NO NO NO for the following reason. Paste and gel colours are glycerine based and require the presence of a small percentage of liquid to work.
Also NO NO NO because you can't possibly judge the intensity from the butter stage. You would normally use a fixed amount of fat and sugar right? You don't adjust the sugar except for stiffness, right?
The only practical exception is to mix a measured amount of colour and a measured amount of liquid if you are making multiple batches of one colour. Colour all the liquid in one jug--the icing is pretty uniform across the batches.
Baking Irene... As an experiment, trying to color a large mixer bowl of BC more easily, thoroughly and quickly, I had added what I thought was a sufficient, yet small amount of paste color to the creamed butter & shortening stage, including vanilla. I figured it was ok that the mixture looked very muted because it was highly likely that it would intensify as soon as I added the PS. YES, I was correct. Even though it blended more thoroughly throughout the bowl full of BC, it was difficult to judge what shade of BC the muted color would produce.
This brings me to my next question... if I need to color more than one mixer bowl of BC icing, using Wilton paste color which is what I have on hand, how would I go about measuring the color to get the same shade in each batch of BC? Wilton paste is not easy to measure like Americolor for example because it doesn't come out in drops.
This brings me to my next question... if I need to color more than one mixer bowl of BC icing, using Wilton paste color which is what I have on hand, how would I go about measuring the color to get the same shade in each batch of BC?
You stir both batches together to get one uniform color.
This is also what's recommended for gallons of paint... if you were to buy three gallons, you should blend all into a five gallon bucket before painting and discovering the last one you open is a slightly different shade.
I can only fit one double batch in my 5-1/2 qt. mixer though and my BC icing isn't light & fluffy either, nor do I want it to be. Now what??? I need to actually mix 2-3 double batches sometimes. HELP ? 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%