Hi guys. I made a huge batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream and flavored it using LorAnn Oil flavoring, but when I tried to tint the buttercream after it was made it will not hold any color. Is this because the flavoring I used is oil based? I tried Wilton's gel paste colors as well as regular food coloring and NOTHING is working. I'm supposed to tint some of it green and some brown to frost a jungle themed cake tonight. Is there any way to do this using the batch of buttercream I already made or do I need to start fresh and add the color during the mixing process? Please help guys!! THANK YOU!!

Hello Kimmie,

SMBC is tricky to tint - you have to use candy colors, not your regular wilton gel colors. Reason - when you tint crusting buttercream the color grabs onto the sugar crystals of the powdered sugar. With a meringue buttercream there are no crystals for it to grab, so you need to tint the fat. Hence, oil colors.

I have heard people having success taking a spoonful or so of SMBC, adding a ton of gel color to it, pop it in the micro to melt and heat up a bit, let it come back to room temperature then add it into the big batch of buttercream, but I have not personally tried this method.

Good luck,

Jen

I use Italian Meringue Buttercream and can tint it a pale color but it doesn't take to medium or darker colors well at all. You should be able to tint it green with Wilton Gel colors - no problem - you just need quite a bit but the brown - try melted dark chocolate and add it into the room temp icing (not cold) then add more gel colors. For some reason adding cocoa powder - breaks down the icing and makes it soupy - if this happens add one more stick of room temp unsalted butter.

Would an Italian Meringue Buttercream work better for tinting? Would this hold up better in the heat and humidity as well? I'm pretty new at this and it was my first attempt at making my own buttercream so it's a live and learn situation. However, I do need the tinted frosting tonight for a party in the park tomorrow, so all your help is appreciated.

IMBC is good to 82 degrees and is not recommended for outdoor or park weddings. For anything outside you need to cover the cake in standard Wilton buttercream or fondant to prevent a meltdown. IMBC is good for lighter to medium colors but not dark - for dark colors you need a Wilton Buttercream or a fondant.

Thank you both so much. I guess I'm gonna have to cover it in fondant after all so I can get the right colors as well as the right hold for a heated event.

That's the best plan. Save the Swiss or Italian buttercream for cooler Fall - Winter or early spring wearther.

AHmm. Makes me even more inclined to stick with my dense, hand-blended ABC. And mostly pastel colors.

A

I was just wondering that myself. When I make macarons I use the Italian method, which starts with an Italian meringue which is then worked into an egg white-almond meal paste to make the mix. To colour these, I add the colour to the Italian meringue, which is easier to blend an even colour than the final mixture. It should work, I hope someone tries it soon. I don't have any dark SMBCs coming up in the near future!

And thanks Jen, I was wondering why the SMBC wouldn't take the gel colouring. I can't believe that I didn't think of using oil-based colours instead!

All I know is that I felt like Rosanna Danna Danna and I wanted to say "Oh never mind!".  I finally got the  SMBC to smooth down and then the color was splotchy.  The color was beautiful in the mixing bowl.    Sheesh

AFor camo I would either air brush or use cocoa powder and americolors -- and I'd just be satisfied with softer mixed colors --

AI have a set of powdered colors too come to think if it --

Started the coloring with Americolor gels and got a beautiful soft pastel color; added touches of sifted cocoa powder to give it the muddy tint (as these cakes are really not in the pretty cutsie category of cakes.) then added powdered colors to try to intensify & deepen the color a bit more.   spot splotch.

As I have some oil based candy/chocolate colors already in the cupboard, I'm happy to give them a try next time around I color SMBC.  And if SMBC simply does not lend itself to darker colors then that is A-OK also, as you say. 

I know this post is really old, but I had great success coloring my SMBC with Wilton gel food color. I was making grass colored icing for soccer cupcakes so I used Kelly green and added about half a cup of powdered sugar to the SMBC and got a vivid green

well done, milknhoney and thank you