could anybody tell me how to get a true red icing. Please help trying to make my son an elmo cake right now and it is not working with just the wilton color. I've already used half of the small container. Please don't laugh at me. I'm a rookie.

u could add a package of red koolaid.. ive heard it works wonders

Oh yeah, Elmo takes a lot of red, unless you want him to turn out a dark but girly pink.....

Good luck

I made an Elmo cake in September-its in my photos. I used Americolor Super Red...I didn't have to use a lot, either! It worked great for red fondant roses too!

the red will darken some as it sits, I always use Wilton red no taste and it does take a lot

I use the powdered red food coloring, it is the most intense. And also know that red is one of the colors that will darken as it sits. So if you have something else to do, just let it sit out a while.
hth

I keep hearing about the powdered red. I really wanna try it sometime. When I just made my red poinsettias, I used almost a whole bottle of the Americolor super red. I put a bunch in, mixed it up, let it set, hoping for it to get darker, and when it didnt, I added more later on, then it got REALLY dark red. Check my photos to see them.

I use Chefmaster red red. Don't have to use near as much as the Wilton pastes.

I didn't find the powdered red to be any more intense than the gel unfortunately. I had high hopes, but it came out about the same. I do know that to achieve an intense red I used a good portion of no taste red with just a little Christmas red (it has a strong taste so don't use much) and let it sit a while, then when I actually used it, the heat from my hand while piping helped to intensify the color. It ended up a nice bright. dark red.