Red Buttercream Icing Help!!!!!
Decorating By chantillycakes Updated 30 Sep 2006 , 7:01pm by Bettycrockermommy
Ok pretty new to this forum but I visit everyday and love the ideas that everyone has. This might seem like a simple issue to some but I am really struggling with red and black icing....
I am in dire need of a help as I have a candy cane cake tomorrow!!!!!
Americolor red is the best. You can use Wilton no-taste red, but it will take a lot of color to get red icing. Same for Black.
Some people do have good results starting black with a chocolate icing. I have just used the Americolor colors for good resulsts.
this works for me all the time.
for a while, I didn't even know of any other brands the wilton! Poor ME! 
, so what I would do is add Wilton's RED RED & Wilton's CHRISTMAS RED and together they would give a rather rich color. Also...if you dye your frosting a couple of hours ahead of time, the colors will intensify and you'll get a better color
Easy for red (which I learned on this site) - mix in a packet of red kool-ade. Makes it taste like cherry or whatever flavor you get, too.
For black, start with chocolate and add a little black. I just bought some dark chocolate cocoa and it made my regular choc buttercream black.
I just tried Americolors recently, and they're amazing. So much better than Wilton!
What I tell my students is to:
a) start by coloring icing pink or
b) use cherry juice; adds flavour to offset bitterness by Wilton no taste and colors pinks or
c) students of mine used red jello powder adds flavour and color. minor tip blockages, but they did elmo.
d) use spray mist on top of icing or
e) use cake sparkles or sugar
But yes Americolor super red just takes drops.
Americolors rock, wilton red and black take a too much color.
for Red
color the icing pink or some here start with a light orange base.
add red one or two drops. Now you need to let it sit for a day. As it sits it will get dark you can adjust from their.
for Black
Start by adding some brown color - mix good. Add a couple drops of black and now like the red let sit over night. Adjust the next day.
For FBT, I use canned chocolate fudge frosting and black and let it sit.
Good luck
Americolor all the way - Super Red and Super Black are great and you don't get the funny taste. Even starting out with the red, you don't get pink, just a lighter "red" if that makes sense. The first time I used it I was amazed. Does your local store stock Americolor products? If you are in doubt, see the fire dept. themed cupcake cakes in my photos. If you can't purchase them locally, the other posts are great tips for what you could do for your current project but I highly recommend purchasing some Americolor colors online for your future projects.
I read on a website about using powdered red color to get a deeper red. I bought it, but have not tried it yet.
I have tried the Koolaid thing, but me and my family hated it. It made the red a light pink and made it very tart. --Just my experience!
http://www.cakecraftshoppe.com
They have excellent service. 
Americolor is definitely the way to go, and you can get it right here on CC!!
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