I bought some Wilton's red red paste coloring. Will that turn out a true red when i color my frosting? I have used a variety of reds and they never turn out red enough so I thought I would try this.

It can get pretty red but you will need touse a LOT like possibly 1/2 or more of the bottle. Also keep in mind that the red color can make your icing turn bitter tasting. It is usually better to start with pink and go as deep with that as you can before you start adding the red. That way you don't need to use as much red to acheive the color you want.

The best red coloring I have ever used is Americolor Super Red, takes very little coloring, will not change the taste of the icing. Wilton will not be a true red, usually you have to use so much that it will change the flavor of your icing. have not had very much luck with the Wilton colors.
I am hooked on the Americolor.

Hope this helps, have a great week end and Happy Easter.

Ok, thanks. I am not too concerned if it becomes bitter because there won't be a lot of red on the cake it will be mostly white (baseball cake).

Ok, well I haven't had much luck with the Americolor so I will give wilton a try. I have also read in the forums about using candy coloring (oil based) but I have yet to hear from anyone who has done this its all just been talked about. I almost bought some but got nervous and got the wiltons instead. If there is anyone who has used the candy coloring for icing let me know how well it worked and if it effected the taste.

I have learned here on CC to let my icing sit for at least 2 hours or overnight if you can after you color it and it will become darker so you don't have to use so much of the color. It does work!

I never knew that.... Its too bad I need it today though. I will remember that for in the future though. Thanks!!!

I have never had a problem with the Americolors, what happened when you used it? I have used the Americolor and Chefmaster candy colors in icing, works very well, colors seem to be a bit more vibrant. Happy Easter.

I use wiltons"no taste red".............first add a little pink then add the no taste red...... works great for me

Red is hard to make and it is true that it gets deeper as you let it sit. I used a kool-aid packet once as suggested here in these forums and it was awesome for COLOR but tasted very tart. Next time I tried those little tubes of sweetened kool aid that you use to make a single serving. I still had to add lots of red food color, though (I use Wilton's no-taste red). But I must say the flavor of that red was very good.
One hint is not to make a huge batch.

I've used Wilton and Americolor. I used to swear by those untill I tried the powdered stuff...works way better. And yep, the longer it sits, the more the color will develop. (I learned that here as well!)

ACan you use Americolor oil base color candy colors on frostings and cakes? I bought on accident. Didn't know if I needed to return them.

I just used wilton red-red this weekend and thought it wouldn't get red enough but I mixed it up and let it sit until the next day and it definitely did deepen in color. So try that before adding a ton. And you won't need 1/2 a bottle, that's a LOT of color!

ALol this thread is very old....but we did learn about coloring icing.

One question do you put the frosting in the refrigeration for 24 hours or put it in a container on the counter??

As far as I know, buttercream can be left out OR refrigerated. It probably depends on the climate where you live.

If you use milk I would put it in the refrigerator to be safe. If not I have left it with the lid on my mixer bowl overnight to let the color sit. 

AI use heavy whipping cream in making my icing and there is enough powdered sugar in my icing that I can leave my icing out and its fine.