I need to do a checkerboard pattern on a cake for next weekend. I was going to mix up some black royal icing and use that with a stencil. What recipe do I use for this??? TIA

I buy my Royal Icing mix.... so I can't help ou there, but if you are already covering the cake in fondant, might I suggest you make black fondant and get a square cookie cutter? in the end IMO it will be bast/easier

Every time I've made black fondant its come out horribly. I don't really want to mess with it this time. It's for my nieces birthday, and no one in my family likes Fondant. The only reason I'm covering it in fondant is because of the design.

You can put RI on fondant, but be careful of the color running. I make my royal icing with 3 egg whites, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. almond extract and 3 cups of powered sugar. First beat the eggs and flavorings until frothy and then add the powered sugar (mixing in one cup at a time). What problem are you having making black fondant? If you are using a high-concentrate color, you shouldn't have a big problem. Also, you should let your colored fondant sit for a day to let the color really set in. (blacks and reds especially)

I generally just buy the Wilton Black fondant when I want Black.

When I make royal icing it is powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. Pretty simple. But a true black is hard with certain brands of color. I know that some brands work better than others but all I've used is the Wilton as it is readily available.

Good luck!

Maybe I'll make 1/2 a batch of black and just add the coloring in the beginning. Maybe that was my problem before. I kneaded the color in after it was already made, and I probably used to much black. I'll try that before I go on to RI

you can also mix in chocolate powder to get black.. or see if your cake place sells black fondant in like a 1lb bag?