I'm pretty new to cake decorating and I'm having 2 problems. The 1st one is RED and Black icing colors......(How do I get it to turn RED or BLACK without using all of my color?) Are there any other colors that maybe I can 2gether to make these colors. (Oh.... and by the way I'm using the WILTON colors).
The 2nd thing is...... When I'm making character cakes or ball cakes (like I'm doing at this moment on a sheetcake for my daughter), are there any other alternatives to putting the stars on. I think I'm gonna just roll over and DIE (I think my wrist is about to fall off). Please keep in mind that I'm still new to decorating and I haven't figured out any quick or simpler methods yet. 
For red, my instructor told us to start with a pink (I use a different brand so I don't know Wilton's colors) and then add the red. Black is easier if you start with chocolate icing and then turn it black.
As for piping stars, Wilton has a tip that does 3 at a time - can't remember the number but it makes covering character cakes a lot easier.
My Wilton instructor told us to use Wilton's red Red & Christmas red together to get a "true red" color. For black, I always use Wiltons chocolate icing or make chocolate icing & then add a touch of black to that. someone else should have another idea. I have to masage my forearms alot when I do stars.
for black icing, start with chocolate icing, that way you will achieve the black you need faster and without using much of your color. As for red, I dont know what to tell you, in my pictures you can see a spiderman cake I made, but I used americolors, I started out with white and put some red and voila! I did not use much and the color was truly pure and bright red... I am not sure about the Wilton red, I remember it used to turn pinkish. good luck,
shirley
I have always had trouble with the wilton colors they are never as bright as I would like. I found gel colors work much better they are by Americolor (I think) but they have super black and bright red that always turn out without having to use the whole bottle. As for mixing colors I am sorry but I don't know what would work, they may end up looking worse (it has happened to me)
Hi MissJ:
I mostly use Wilton colors also because they are the only ones readily available to me without having to order them.
To make black, add cocoa powder, mix well, then add black food coloring, a lot of it. Let it sit overnight preferably, the longer it sits, the darker it gets. Just remember, it does take quite a bit of coloring.
For red, turn it pink first then a lot of red food coloring. I have more trouble with red than I do black. Red seems to take longer and the color will turn darker overnight.
As for the stars, you can fill in the drawing with a round tip, then put some cornstarch on your finger and smooth it out. They also sell a tip that makes 3 stars at once, I believe it's called a Triple Star tip.
HTH you.
I am making some Halloween cupcakes this weekend and will need black, dark blue and dark green - which I can never seem to get using Wilton colors. I am just going to buy the pre-made color tubes of Wilton frosting to decorate the cupcakes.. I dont know how much frosting you need for your project - but just an idea.
Wilton has a tip that has a 3 star opening which is great for filling in larger areas. It is "Triple Star Multi-Opening Decorating Tip 402-2010".
My hands get sore too when doing a lot of stars but it will help you a little if your icing isn't too thick. It is trial and error but it should be thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to pipe more easily.
Using Wilton colors, you may have to use all of the container to get the color you want. For black, starting with chocolate frosting may help. For your future projects, I suggest Americolor gel to tint your icing - especially Super Red and Super Black. They are AWESOME! You get a true red and a true black and you don't have to use that much so it doesn't change the taste of your icing at all.
Regarding the black, start with chocolate icing first and then add your black color. You won't need to add near as much.
As for the red, I use Wilton's Red (No Taste) and I have to use A LOT to make it red-red (Like, the whole bottle if I'm making a large batch of red). If you have leftover pink from a previous cake, you could use that as a base for your red as well. I've read on this website that other people use the Americolor "Super Red" with much success. It's on sale now for only 99 cents from this website.
I don't do many character pans -- for that very reason. Be sure to charge enough for all your time!
As for black, take a look at my gallery, my abstract dragonfly cake which is the eleventh going from left to right has a black base. It was made with Hersey's special dark cocoa and no color added. It may be hard to find but I got it at a Target Super Store.
As for my reds, I buy premade then tint to my tone. If I didn't get it in time, I use Americolor and a ton of it.
Also, I have heard that if you use powder color first it is helpful.
I've also heard that the powdered colors work better. I've never used the powder but Cake Kraft makes "super red" gel (and black and other bold colors) but if you don't have a cake shop around that sells that kind of stuff, try using an all Crisco
BC instead of butter/Crisco. Someone told me that if you're using a butter recipe, use the Wilton icing whitener first, then add the actual color but you will still have to use a lot of it. I've given up on Wilton colors and have been using Cake Kraft (they don't sell Americolor in my local cake shop and I'm always last minute so I don't have time to order from CC!).
Okay, here goes: for red icing, you want to use SUPER RED, and preferably the NO TASTE, if using Wilton colors. I usually use the CK gel colors, but you still need to use quite a bit. I have been told that the AMERICOLOR colors you see advertised here are great, so you might want to give that a try.
For black: I always start with chocolate icing. Much easier to turn a brown icing black than to start with white.
For the character/ball pans: I might suggest icing the base colors in the colors you intend to use, then going with something entirely different: how about cornelli lace or phillipine sotas? If you use a larger tube, they'll fill in pretty quickly. I know what you mean about all those stars, though. I've got arthritis and the stars just about kill me, too.
Or have you tried to cover in fondant? That's always a possibility, too.
Experiment and have fun with it!
Good Luck
Odessa
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=favpics&cat=0&pos=-9124
Here's a link to a cake that SheilaF made without using stars. It looks really great!
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