Hi guys, I've just signed up and I have a question. I'm looking at making a cake and I need black and red fondant. I've had a look around but can only find white. Now, is it possible to colour the white fondant with red food colouring or will that not give a really rich red colour? Also, what can I do to make black fondant - or do I have to buy it already made?

Please note from my wacky spelling of "colour" that I am Australian, so I don't have access to some "popular" brands you guys might have in America. And if this is in the wrong place, please feel free to move it! Oh and it will be my first time using fondant!

Welcome to Cake Central. You can color white fondant, but it takes a LOT of color (Americolor gels work best) and you have to compensate for the liquid by adding cornstarch/powdered sugar.

If you can find a source to order it, it would be MUCH better.

Thanks for the reply.
Does using a lot of colour to make it red and black make it taste bitter? I heard that fondant tastes icky by itself and that colouring it makes it even more icky? Are there any ways to ensure fondant tastes okay?

Hi and welcome aboard, now depends on your fondant the fondant we have in NZ is yummy but when colouring wiht red or black yes can turn sickly. The other option depending on size is painting it with the right food colouring (diluted with alcohol or rose water) you have i use the Gel colours mine arent americolour they are chefmaster gel base colour which you maybe able to get over there too then you could powder colour over it using like a blusher brush and chalk pastels that are non toxic of course. otherwise airbrushing is the other choice if you have available using the airbrush colours. You can also get red powder colouring that you add to the fondant you knead it thru and let it stand overnight is best for colour to settle properly and it doesnt alter the taste...

good luck and let us know how you get on love to see a pic of the finished cake... happy decorating

I've made cakes with both black fondant and dark burgundy. I just used the gel food coloring by Americolor.
One tiny container should be enough for a large package of fondant and it gives it a nice rich color. It wasn't hard at all.
I recommend using plastic gloves to massage the color in, or putting the fondant and the color in a large heavy duty ziploc bag so you don't stain your hands.
I didn't even have to compensate with added cormstarch, though I did use powdered sugar when rolling it our so it wouldn't stick. It doesn't change the taste of the fondant, but you can add flavoring in the same way you added the color. Good luck!

Hi elissia

Welcome to CC.
You can sometimes by it off ebay already cloloured, its sold by the kilo.
You can by Orchard Brand in coles supermarkets, They have a chocolate one which you can add black colour to. Thats how I did the splotches on my cow cake. Sorry cant really help you with red though. Last time I made it, it went a burgundy sort of colour.
Good luck!

Thanks for everyone's replies! I think I'm going to try the gel colouring. Would fondant be the most tasteful hard icing, do you think? Or should I try marzipan and sugar paste too? I want to have a hard icing but I do want it to be tasty, and I've heard that a lot of hard icings are inedible or just gross!

Sorry for all the questions, I'm a newbie to cake decorating!

I'm going to go check out the products that you've suggested, thankyou!

EDIT: Actually I'm going to find some Orchard Icing and give that a go. I'll have a taste. Maybe I should steer clear of black and use different colours instead.

Try this one. Add food colour to melted marshmellows.


http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1949-1-Marshmallow-Fondant-MMF.html

One other thing to think about......for black fondant, start with chocolate fondant, and then add the black. You don't need to use as much and the flavour is much better.

HTH

Hi again, the brand here we have is Baykels Ready to Roll Pettinice they also do white, almond(marzipan), ivory and chocolate. The white can set hard but is still nice well we love it its just like vanilla ice cream hehe best way to describe it... i never use any extra icing sugar etc as with the gel colour or powder it doesnt change the texture of it as they arent a liquid. I do however use either Petal Base or Kremelta to stop it sticking to my hands when kneading..

Hi guys, thanks so much for the help! I will definitely look into everything tomorrow and see how it goes. I'm so excited ... but nervous!

Here is a link to some red on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1kg-OF-PLASTIC-ICING-RED_W0QQitemZ120089278496QQihZ002QQcategoryZ102391QQcmdZViewItem

not sure of the taste though.

Red I sometimes use pink first and then add red... and the black I take all my left over fondant of different colors left from other cakes.. mix them all together, which makes a weird gray color typically...and then add black. I like to use black as an opportunity to use up all the extra little bits of fondant I have been holding onto that weren't used for their original cakes.

good luck!

You can buy Ready to roll icing in black and red from here:

http://www.cakedeco.com.au/product.asp?productID=1140
or try
http://www.bakerysugarcraft.com.au/default.asp

Bakery Sugarcraft do have it, that's where I got mine from, but they've recently changed their website so it might be wise to call them as I don't find their search engine very helpful sometimes.

Of course all the other advice on here is helpful, but I still find it hard to get primary colours right, this little cheat helps alot.

As with any fondant which is a complete matter of taste to the individual I always tell people they can just peel it off, the cake still tastes great!

HTH