Hey everyone! I just had an interesting experience with Wilton gel colors (my first), and I need a little advice. I am making cute little bees to put on an Easter practice cake and I wanted to color a little bit of fondant black. SO, I added some of the gel color with a toothpick and kneaded it in my hands (which are now stained, but not too bad), but it was only a dark gray, so I added a little more gel. It didn't turn black, it turned hard and crumbly so I added a drop of water (the piece of fondant was about the size of a quarter). Well, after that one little drop of water, it turned into something resembling the clay my daughter uses to make pottery, slimy and horrible, and still not black. I know the water caused the sugar to disintegrate, but why did it never turn a true black?? How much gel do you need to use to get true black on white fondant? I used the yellow on another piece and it turned out awesome, I'm flummoxed, I made the fondant myself, and I do alot of candy baking so I know the recipe was good, but is there another, better way? Thanks in advance for the help, this is all pretty new to me.

I don't like to use gel's for fondant, I think that the Americolor works best for fondant and they have "super black" it works wonderful.
Hope this helps.

Black and red are very difficult. Some one may be able to tell you how to make it but if all else fails you can order black Satin Ice. Pre-made and colored fondant avoids the whole problem.

You could try forming the fondant first and then "painting" the piece black with the gel color. I did this for a cow themed wedding cake, I painted the fondant with black spots and it turned out great. Hope that helps.

Laly's right....the gels don't make some shades of dark/vibrant colours on fondant, especially in black/brown/red/purple. Those are ones I always use Americolor for with much better success!

If I used gels on fondant for these colours, this is what I end up with:

black gel --- violet blue
brown gel --- peach tone
red gel --- bright pink
purple --- mid blue

I've had trouble trying to make fondant black as well, very similar experience to what you described. If you're doing something small with just black accents, I like to paint the black color on. Just mix a little paste color with vodka or a clear extract and paint away. Easy to do with something small like bees, just make sure they're completely dry before you try to move them around much or you'll have black smudge , (the voice of experience talking). If painting won't work and you must have black fondant, use leaf green, chocolate brown, and violet to make a yucky dark color before adding the black on top. If you just add black to the white fondant, you'll always have something that looks grayish. If you give it a dark, opaque base, it'll turn true black for you. Hope this helps. Post pics of the bees when you finish.

I actually was going to order Americolor, but it seems like they are out of stock on CC. I'll have to try again another time, for now, I have very messy but cute bees, I'll upload pics of the cake when it's done tomorrow.

I've heard that if you have MMF and are coloring it Dark, Start with Chocolate MMF. Other wise since its just little bee's buy som already made already black fondant and use it as accents.

I personally purchase black, green and red Satin Ice. I don't like kneeding!

But you can search the threads I have seen pictures of Black MMF you can make it with Hersey's Special Dark cocoa.

i use americolor very black but you can try either starting with a choc. (brown colored) fondant or also try adding some violet to deepen the color.

it is possible to get black with white fondant. Its lots of gel though. I've done it a few times. The roof of my gazebo and the wheels on my tractor were both white when I started. You end up adding more sugar and kneading and color and kneading. For such a small amount I would do it. I also like the idea of starting with a darker color first. I think I'll try that next time.

I have made black fondant several times (have some in my freezer as a matter of fact). I use Americolor gel paste and it always works for me fine. I don't have superblack, though I'll probably use that next time - the baker supply place I go to doesn't have it, so I'll order it.

I have to add a lot of black gel paste for the amount of fondant I'm using, and I usually have to knead in a little extra powdered sugar to compensate, and then a little shortening to help keep it easy to handle. Sometimes (especially when humid) it's a little stick, then I just have to use more p. sugar. I think adding the green, violets, browns, etc. is a good idea and may keep from using quite so much gel paste - or starting with chocolate! Good luck!

Americolor's Super Black works well. I'm considering purchasing red Satin Ice though....red is such a pain!