Okay I am a little frustrated and taking a break. I am using Americolor red and black and having a hard time getting them dark enough. So far in my red, about 3 cups, I have used a whole .75oz bottle of red. In my black, about 1 cup, I have used about 1/2 a bottle. Oh, I am making the frosting for FBCT(which I LOVE!). So I am taking a break and seeing if my colors will deepen. I don't think the 18 year old guy the cake is for will appreciate his HS grad cake having pink decorations! Any suggestions? What color does anyone else use? 
Hi,
I know you are frustrated, I really do not have the solution to your problem, but what I read in Wiltons website is that, red and black are only recommended as accents..not to color large areas, because they are a pain to come up with. take it easy....
MMDD thanks for the tip, I never thought of making the black brown first. I don't know if I can even make the FBCT frosting chocolate, but maybe I'll try adding a little brown. As for the red, not sure what to do now. I'm afraid if I add pink, it will get pinker!
Prettycake, thanks for the support!
I know I said I use wilton, but I didn't mention that I use three different shades...red-red, christmas red, no-taste red.
The more red you add, the more bitter it's gonna get.
I've made a scooby doo fbct and I used thin chocolate icing. It worked just fine.
I hope you get that true red!
Well, I didn't get true red, but I added a bit of burgundy an it did get a little redder. I also added some chocolate brown to the black and it's darker. Also, mmdd, I use Wilton also, but I do find that with Americolor, you usually get truer colors and because they are in "squeeze" bottles, they are less messy! Thanks everyone, I'll post the picture when I am done!!
Start with chocolate frosting first to get black. And the red will deepen as it sets. If you are only using the black to outline you won't be putting a lot of chocolate flavor onto the cake. So far I have only used Wilton colors. But with the red I only use the no-taste red. Red food coloring tastes awful. Guess that is why I don't like red velvet cake.
Alsoonce your colors fail to change/deepen then stop adding color. Adding more color wont help it will only make your icing bitter. Stop and wait for the colors to deepen on thier own. The pink and brown first are great tips - I always do this if I am making a big batch. You might try making several smaller batches as well. Hope it works out for you!
I've never had a problem with using the Americolors red and black. Starting off with brown for the black, and pink for the red does work really well. What type of icing are you using (that might have something to do with it). Also for future reds and blacks, try making them a day ahead so they have time to deepen. Hope I've helped at all.
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