Hello!

I am making a cake for my son's farm bday and plan to make a cow print cake using black mmf for lthe spots.

Anything specific I need to keep in mind for mkaing black mmf? Would it be easier to achieve a true black if I start with chocolate mmf?

I'm a relative newcomer to the whole cake decorating world - and I really only do it for fun. I've heard that the darker colors can make the frosting a little bitter b/c of the amount of color that you need to use. I'm not all that concerned about this b/c the spots will me mostly for asthetics - the cke will be frosted in a crusting buttercream so I'm figuring most people will just peel the spots away anyway

However, I am concerned about not being able to acheive a true black .... having the black from the spots somhow run onto the white frosting of the rest of the cake .... etc.

ANY tips are appreciated and don't worry about offending me ... I really do not know that much and welcome all input from all you lovely cake experts

True-Black is very difficult to achieve. It takes a lot of color. Starting with brown should help. You have to add more powdered sugar to compensate for the extra moisture of the coloring.

Personally, I think brown and white cows are delicious. (not to mention easier)

You can also buy black fondant.

It would be soo much easier just to buy black fondant.

if you get americolor gels its not hard to make black mmf at all!!!!! Just look at these cakes I've done.....I think it's a true black on them!!
Couple squirts and I was good to go. Gotta use americolor though I just can't get a true black with wilton colors.

What a BEAUTIFUL cake!!!! That definitely looks like true black

2 additional questions ...
I've used Wilton colors in the past b/c that is what I found at Michaels. Does Michaels sell the Americolor food colorings as well? Or would that be something I need to order?
Also - does Michaels sell colored fondant? If I can't get the Americolor it seems like it might be easier just to go the pre-made fondant route!

a good cake supply store should sell other brands of fondant (imo WILTON fondant tastes like POO!) you should also be able to get americolor or ck color gels from a cake supply store, otherwise you'll need to order them (that's what i do)

When making black MMF I ALWAYS add my coloring to the melted marshmallows, takes a lot less color and is not as hard on my arms as kneading it in.

yes, definitely add to the marshmallows unless you're only dying enough to make a couple roses.......your arms will thank you!! lol

Thanks for the feedback ladies!!! I found a cake supply store in my area and will hopefully be paying them a visit today or tomorrow. I very much appreciate the advice (and my arms thank you as well!). I will let you know how it goes!

I usually start with coloring my Fondant Brown, then adding Black and it turns out pretty good.

Satin Ice makes a good Black Fondant.

If you replace some of the powdered sugar (like a half to a cup) with special dark cocoa powder, it will come out nearly truely black. I only had to use a tiny bit of color to achieve true black.

Remember with black and red, you have to wait for the colors to turn the color they will be. Black and red will look lighter than they will turn out once the die has had a chance to set. I always make up black and red hours before I'm going to use them so that I can see what color they will actually be. I've seen a lot of people add a whole container of black or red to try to get a true color, when all they had to do was be patient. MMF gets harder to work with the more color you add.

Stay away from Wilton fondant. Yeck! Just add a bit of cocoa powder to whatever fondant you use (I like MMF with butter flavoring) and them a few drops of Americolor (found at cake supply stores, but not at Michael's or Hobby Lobby -- check the phone book for a supply store near you). The cocoa powder allows you to start with a darker base so you don't need as much food coloring. Using a lot of food coloring can sometimes affect the texture and taste, as well as cause problems with bleeding (although not so much with fondant as with buttercream). You might need to work in a bit of glycerine to compensate for the cocoa powder. This is what I did for the black fondant stripes on my construction cake (and then kneaded in more white fondant to get the gray for the road).

I actually just made some black MMF ... started with chocolate MMF and added about 3 squirts of Americolor Black gel (adding that to the melted marshmallows before adding any cocoa or powdered sugar). It was "almost" pure black when I finished kneeding it. The next day I checked on it and it did darken to a pure black and tastes just like chocolate MMF. If your cake shop that you go to doesn't have Americolor, ask if they'll get it for you. The cake shop I go to will order anything I want. Once you ask for it, you'll be surprised to find them stock it.

I always make MMF black now -- it's soooo easy!!

Stir in a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to melted MMs, thenn add a jar of Wilton black. Americolor is too liquid. It comes out beautifully black and tasty, too! You can make it without the cocoa powder if you don't want any chocolate taste, it just helps the color deepen.