Black Gel/paste Woes

Decorating By Kitagrl Updated 25 Mar 2007 , 4:39am by redpanda

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Kitagrl Posted 25 Mar 2007 , 4:25am
post #1 of 2

Why can't black color just be BLACK? I think Americolor is pretty good but we have a huge thing of it at work and sometimes it gets a green tinge to it. I was using Wilton black at home to tint fondant grey and it turned out country blue looking. What is with this? (All that and if you spill it on your counter, it leaves a pink stain...go figure. haha.)

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redpanda Posted 25 Mar 2007 , 4:39am
post #2 of 2

Black coloring, at least all FDA approved black food coloring is made up of a number of FDA approved pigments, none of which is actually black. I think that the only truly black pigments are mineral-based and, while possibly GRAS (generally recognized as safe), I don't think any are actually FDA approved as food additives. I could be wrong, though.

Wilton definitely has a lot of the blue pigments in it. The Americolor did turn my hands fuschia when I colored some fondant black without wearing gloves.

The same is true for felt-tipped markers. The black ones are a mixture of colors. I did a fun science experiment with my middle schoolers when I taught. I had each of them find and bring in a non-permanent black marker. I gave them a piece of filter paper (basically a strip of coffee filter). They put a good sized dot of ink on the strip, about half an inch in from the end. They then held the strip with the tip, below the dot, in a flask of water. After several minutes, the water had traveled up the paper, separating the ink into bands of the different colors.

Hmmm. I may have to try that with icing colors. icon_smile.gif

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