Every time I use black no matter how much black color I put in it, it always comes out grey or a deep deep purple.

also how would one make hot pink

Well for the black, I was told to if making black buttercream, start with chocolate buttercream then add your black colouring to it. The same goes for fondant as well.

for the hot pink? Haven't done it yet, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

Good luck!

If your doing it with butter cream you have to use chocolate butter cream. If your using fondant then it's best to use a get color as well as a powder color. But it still takes a lot of each. As for the hot pink you have to find a hot pink get and it probably wouldn't hurt to use powder in that as well. Just be careful because I've heard that the powder can make your icing or fondant a little grainy.

It depends on what brand of coloring you are using..If you are using Wilton..it will take one sometimes 2 bottles to get a good black.Americolor is my main coloring as you squirt it in and no mess.It also doesn't take as much to get a dark black.I do however find that if my americolor is getting old you can almost see the purple base pulling out of it and it tends to make the icing more purpley/grey but I just throw it out and buy a new large bottle.To get a Hot pink use lots of Soft pink and it will turn dark Pink..Fuscia will turn a different color all together..almost a purple.All the Hot pinks in my photos is just lots of soft pink coloring.Americolors of course!!

Brand makes all the difference as Kiddiekakes suggested. Wilton os the worst coloring agent around. Absolutely, bar none. I've had better luck with may other brand I've tried.

My favorite was Chef Magic - but impossible to find now. Americolor outsold it - but I swear they were the best. Now I use Americolor... sadly, but I do.

And these other two brand don't bleed!! At least they never have for me. I never start out with chocolate icing. I use whatever I'm using (white or ivory) and it turns black.

To get a really good black, I would use sugarflair 'black extra' or 'liquorice'. Both give a true black color, not grey. Make sure you let them sit for a bit to let the color darken before using.
My favourite color for hot pink is americolor 'electic pink'. It is really intense, I love it!

Chefmaster liqua gel = black instantly. Highly concentrated so you use very little. Do a google search and you'll find several web sites that carry it.

I wanted to try melted buttercream to dip my cupcakes in. I microwaved the buttercream for a few seconds while it was still a darkish gray and it really intensified the black.

I always use wilton and never had any trouble getting black icing or fondant. THe only is the gp, it gets really black when is soft but once is dry turns grey.

I like Americolor as well, but have used Wilton's with not many problems either. I just have to use more coloring. If I do not want chocolate, I start with blue. I find that it makes a nice truer black.

For hot pink, Americolor's electric pink is good, but if you don't have that Wilton's rose pink makes a nice hot pink too.

I've tried to use just a white icing but it always takes so much color to make it black that it is just easier to make it chocolate first then add the black. And I've never used chefmaster but I agree the Americolor is very good. Much better than the Wilton brand.

I have had very good luck with the Americolor black gel, but I ALWAYS start with either a chocolate buttercream or chocolate fondant. Not only does it take much less gel to achieve a black color, it tastes much better. I also try to make it with enough time to let it sit for the color to develop.

As for the hot pink, I'm sure there is a gel color out there that will work, but again I find the brighter colors need time to settle. It's always better to go a little lighter than you think you will need because the colors will brighten as they sit and it's always easier to add then try to lighten a color.

Good luck!

I guess we all go with what we like...we are huge chocoholics in our house! I do add black gel directly to white royal icing and achieve a nice black color. I've never tried the Chefmaster colors, probably because like you mentioned, they are hard to find. If I do come across the brand, I'm going to try it. Thank for another option.

Yeah - people think we're weird.

I needed black lettering last night. I tinted my white icing with my Americolor and wrote the setiment on the cake. Went to deliver the cake... it was delivered within 45 minutes after writing on it... it was already a deep black even though it was dark gray when I mixed it.

This is easy!
Start with white icing....add a good amount of juniper green to get a "dark" juniper....than add your black.

Black icing used to be a NIGHTMARE for me ...now....no worries.

Try this...I PROMISE you'll love it!

I use super black by Cake Craft and it works great. They have a line of "super" colors, like black, navy, red, violet. They also don't crust over in the jar like Wilton colors.