I have just started awhile ago making cakes and no matter what I try to do I can never get red and black to their true color red looks dark pink and black looks dark grey. What can I do to get nice rich color?
I personally like to start with a small batch of icing. I add a heap of color to start and I blend it all in. Then I add a bit more white icing blend it in and add more color to re-adjust the color. I do this until all my icing is colored.
I find doing it this way is less frustrating for me.
Americolor, Americolor, Americolor! You can order them from this site if you can't find them locally. They give you super rich colors (& a huge selection) without having to use a ton of coloring. I've tried Wilton colors before but once I tried the Americolors ALL the Wilton ones went into the trash!
That being said, I usually mix in the coloring the night before I need to decorate. The longer it sits, the more red it gets, same with the black. If you keep adding & adding color the flavor of your icing can change, and not for the better. I once used 2 containers of "no taste red" Wilton coloring for an Elmo cake...ICK! The whole cake was ruined by nasty tasting icing. Live and learn.
Best of luck jtaj and welcome to CC 
Americolor, Americolor, Americolor! You can order them from this site if you can't find them locally. They give you super rich colors (& a huge selection) without having to use a ton of coloring. I've tried Wilton colors before but once I tried the Americolors ALL the Wilton ones went into the trash!
Same here! Once I discovered Americolor and Lucks, I don't use wilton anymore....Americolor costs more when you buy it, but it goes further, so its actually cheaper!
I get very rich reds now (hahaha wish you could see my fingers right now..I painted a couple of dozen roses a coral color last night and I hate wearing gloves...)
I will have to post a colorflow cardinal I did...just a couple of drops of Americolor..and its a rich beautiful red!
I will have to post a colorflow cardinal I did...just a couple of drops of Americolor..and its a rich beautiful red!
Please do post pics!
As someone who is just getting started in cake decorating, I suddenly realize that there's a reason 99% of the cakes you see are iced with weak pastel looking soft colors: because it just takes too darn much icing color to get the job done. 
I did a contemporary style cake recently and felt that very vibrant colors were needed to fit the style. I was shocked to see the whole bottle of Wilton no taste red go into the bowl to get it right. (Even then, I felt the result was somewhat neonish). I will definately give these new suggestions a try.
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