My Hands Are Pink And Red...

Decorating By adven68 Updated 17 Feb 2009 , 11:21pm by mamacc

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adven68 Posted 14 Feb 2009 , 6:05pm
post #1 of 21

so, I made this wedding cake today. It was a light pink base color....I kneaded the fondant with some color. (Americolor gels) Then the elements were fuschia and red. Exactly HOW much red food color do you have to put in order to get red fondant, and not some bland dark puke pink? i used RED RED...
Same thing goes with fuschia.
I eneded up hand painting every piece on the darn cake and it took me twice as long as I thought.

20 replies
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baker2699 Posted 14 Feb 2009 , 6:19pm
post #2 of 21

Boy I cant count the number of times Ive had multi-colored hands lol..
I keep a box of rubber gloves with my colors now that way I dont have to worry about explaining to people why my hands are purple.. red.. green.. whatever color Ive messed with

Ive never been able to get red red.. it never comes out right

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londonpeach Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 4:03pm
post #3 of 21

I know what you mean about having red hands icon_lol.gif people that don't know I make cakes think I have sore fingers icon_biggrin.gif

I use the 'sugarflair'colours, they have a red extra and I always get a good red with it, they also do a black extra which i use as well.

Don't know if you get sugarflair in the states.

I am going to invest in some gloves for when i'm mixing colours...I have a lot of burgandy roses to make soon.

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Anntee Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 5:42pm
post #4 of 21

Washing your hands with a dissolved denture tablet will eliminate the colors. HTH icon_biggrin.gif

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londonpeach Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 5:49pm
post #5 of 21

Thanks Anntee, i'll give that a try...I hope people don't think i've got false teeth when I buy them icon_biggrin.gif

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Yuni Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 6:21pm
post #6 of 21

So glad to know I am not the only one having the problem!! I was going nuts trying to get the red red for hours, and for my next project I need black-red, oh that sounds like nightmare right now~ I don't even care for my hands, I just want the color!

Thanks londonpeach for the tip, I can't find any store carry sugarflair in the U.S, but a few seller on ebay (ship from U.K~) I'll give it a try, not sure if I can get them on time tho.... icon_sad.gif

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londonpeach Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 7:08pm
post #7 of 21

I hope you manage to get the colours on time yuni....I don't know how much it costs to post to the US but I know to send here from the US is expensive.

Good luck thumbs_up.gif

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adven68 Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 9:00pm
post #8 of 21

Thanks or the tip. I ran out of gloves. Don't have any denture stuff icon_biggrin.gif ....but the color did come out after a day or so.

I buy black fondant becasue I know there is no way to get real black other than painting it....i guess I will look into buying red and other colors. I know SatinIce makes some colors.

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dellboi2u Posted 16 Feb 2009 , 11:04pm
post #9 of 21

Here is what I do to get red or black. I make my own MM Fondant (3 Tablespoons water, or sub some of the water with flavoring, 16 oz. large marshmallows, 2 lbs. powdered sugar) After I melt my marshmallows and water then stir in 2 containers of the Wilton no taste red... YES 2! (I use 2 for black as well) Then I add the marshmallow mixture to the powdered sugar and knead it all together. (I use my kitchen aid with the dough hook)Let it sit for a couple of hours after it is all mixed up in a sealed ziplock bag and it turns out great. I knead in crisco if it is too dry and corn starch if it gets to oily. I will usually roll out my dark colors on crisco to avoid getting cornstarch on the dark colors. If I do get cornstarch on the dark colors, I airbrush a small amount of vodka onto the cake to clean it up. I have quite a few cakes in my photos with red and black if you want to see the red and black I get. Good luck!

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Cakepro Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 7:40am
post #10 of 21

I had a black and white wedding cake awhile back where I worked for hours and hours and hours getting the black fondant elements on the cake. When I was done, I washed my hands half a dozen times and then went to deliver the cakes. The black had faded to violet, which was deeper in the lines and cracks of my palms and fingers, and it looked like I had some wicked bad bruising. LOL icon_biggrin.gif

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JaimeAnn Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 8:52am
post #11 of 21

I had a heck of a time trying to get red for my Valentines cakes last week!

dellboi2u , I am going to try your method next time!!!

I keep a bottle of Hair dye stain remover at my sink it takes the food coloring right off. I get it at Sally beauty supply its about $4 and lasts quite a while. They also have it in individually packaged wipes.

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dhccster Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 11:04am
post #12 of 21

I am very, very new to fondant. I just did hearts this past weekend using fondant for the first time. (My hands were very red!) I really do like fondant. I have to do red and navy stars this week. I have both Wilton and Americolor, which one do you suggest I use?

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dmhart Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 11:57am
post #13 of 21

I use Decopac's gel color. I get beautiful, bold red and deep black with it. It doesn't take a lot of color either. I know to use gloves but I don't. I have found that with Decopac it washes off my hands better than any other brand, wilton or americolor. I still get color stains on my hands but not nearly as bad and it doesn't last very long. Normally by the end of the day of washing dishes it has pretty much washed away. I use all three brands with my buttercream so I have them on hand. But I am trying to get switched to all Decopac color. As I run out I buy the next in Decopac. I do like americolor but Decopac is less expensive and does a better job for me. JMHO icon_wink.gif

This is a cake I did using decopac color in the fondant.
The lettering and mickey ears on the cake were white fondant colored with decopac red and black gel color. I thought the color was great!

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1300435

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dhccster Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 12:09pm
post #14 of 21

dmhart: your cake looks wonderful. The colors are great! Where do you get Decopac? Also, do you make your own fondant? TIA

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JenWhitlock Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 12:46pm
post #15 of 21

I feel uncoordinated when I use gloves icon_confused.gif
so I always have colored hands.
I'm going to try some of the stuff the previous posters mentioned!!!

as for getting the color dark, it takes TONS, depending on how much fondant, it can be a full bottle or more! also let is set for several hours before you use it - it will darken.
the first time I really noticed was when I was making a cake with a deep purple, I kept adding more and more color to get what I wanted. I finished the cake, and when I came down in the morning I couldn't believe how dark it was!!!

as for the black, I start with dark chocolate fondant, it's so dark that it doesn't take as much to get it back (see my mailbox cake)

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michellesArt Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 12:53pm
post #16 of 21

i agree with jen-i feel clumsy using gloves (i go to work with stains but they know by now) but i'll give the denture tablet a try heheh makes me laugh but whatever works-i tried adding a SMALL bit of black when i want deep red and was happy (plus i mix notaste red and red i find it makes a stronger colour) hth icon_smile.gif

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dmhart Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 1:06pm
post #17 of 21
Quote:
Originally Posted by hsterling

dmhart: your cake looks wonderful. The colors are great! Where do you get Decopac? Also, do you make your own fondant? TIA




Thanks hsterling! I get the gel color from the Decopac company. I order it online. I don't make my fondant I use Satin Ice.

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PistachioCranberry Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 1:14pm
post #18 of 21

Windex...yes windex(or any window cleaner like it) sprayed on your hands rub and wash.

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LittleLinda Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 1:18pm
post #19 of 21

Anntee, that is an interesting tip with the denture tablets, I must try it.

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adven68 Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 1:50pm
post #20 of 21

dellboi2u, Thanks for the tip...your cakes a lovely.

dmhart...your red & black are very deep....Decopac, here I come.

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mamacc Posted 17 Feb 2009 , 11:21pm
post #21 of 21

I think it's worth it to buy red and black precolored and have them on hand at all times.

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