I just made my first from scratch fondant because I just can't stand any pre made I've ever tasted. I used the recipe from here and it tastes good but my problem of course is the color.

I used black paste to color it and it's more a dark grey purple. I've added more and more black but it's useless it won't darken. Can anyone help me fix this? I don't have much time and I'm stressed as it is with this cake.

Please everyone!

Well, if you have just a bit of time left, I would make MFF (michell fosters fondant). I DREAD trying to get fondant black. But, I gave it a whirl lastnight when I made the MFF (which was my first time) it accepted the color nicely. I still had to use quite a bit. When I tried it with MMF, I got a greenish, black. What a pain in the A#@!!
HTH

Keep adding color...you are not adding enough...The best colors in the market for balck are
americolor
chefmaster
But still...you need to keep adding, it does take a bit of color.
Edna

Right now you have to use what you have on hand just MORE. If you can- get some Americolor Super Black. With darker colors you just have to use more. Black has a mix of red and green and blue in it but without enough black the best you'll wind up is with a weird army green shade of slate grey.

I have made pure black fondant from white with only Americolor Super Black. It can work. And Americolor doesn't make it taste weird either. I agree that chocolate fondant then colored black will taste even better because it's Chocolate ...helloo!

Have you tried letting your fondant sit for a few minutes? Those colors will darken with time, sometimes as quick as 30 minutes. If you haven't set it down on the counter and walked away for a few moments, try doing that. If nothing else, it'll help your sanity.

thanks everyone, but the problem is that i don't have many places available to me for supplies. i seem to only have access to wilton food coloring paste that i can get in local craft shops' bakery sections... i do have a week to do this but just not a lot of funds to start over. it's kinda dark will it set in better after refrigeration?

Don't refrigerate your fondant. Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and leave it on your counter.

ok aggie but i'm not applying to my cake for a few days (i just wanted to make this now to give time for error) so wont i need to keep in refrigerated?

since you have alittle bit of time left i would try this recipe...

http://cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6971-True-Black-MMF.html

i use this one and it seems to work alot better...

if you start with a brown first then go to black it wont take as much either

Nope, that's one of the beauties of fondant. It doesn't take up precious fridge space.

I have fondant sitting double wrapped in a sealed bowl on my counter from my last cake two weeks ago and I don't like the smell of it and i am going to throw it out. I never have liked left over fondant. I prefer to make what I need fresh with in 3 days of needing it. After that I think it goes stale. It's not a temperatur issue at least I don't think. Yes I live In FL but I keep my Ac set to 75' all the time. So what gives with this?

Wilton works-- just keep kneading. Really! I've done this several times. But I tend to purchase their Pure White Boxed fondant especially... because it will take more color and the consistency stays stiffer after taking so much gel color.

With black, don't be afraid to glob a big glob on there. A technique I find helpful is: Pat your fondant into a fat 'disc', plop the gel color in the middle, and with gloved fingers 'spread' the color around, and then knead. It helps get the color moving and spread out faster. --Repeat as neseccary.

Have you tried satin ice fondant? It really is just much easier to buy it! Adding so much color makes the fondant really cranky. Otherwise perhaps you could airbrush it black.

I have also used a powdered black food colouring with good effect. With that stuff you need to keep kneading it, let it sit overnight, then knead it again.

I agree with them about the Americolor Black, it's awesome!
And next time, try starting out with a chocolate fondant, and you
won't need to use as much black color............there is
a recipe here for a WONDERFUL chocolate fondant, and yes,
this is how it's spelled:
Rhond'as Ultimate Chocolate MMF
I love it: tastes just like a Tootsie Roll and is heaven to work with!!!!

HTH!!!

Try making it chocolate or brown first, then you will have a darker base color to start with and it will make it easier to go black. (I never tried that but I read it somewhere before I made fondant for the first time)

I put the black paste into the melted marshmellows then add the sugar. I have used over half of the paste before. I let it sit for a day or two and its easier to work with. Also the color deepens.

Sweetqt...I know this wont help since you probably cant get your hands on it now but for future reference, I use Satin Ice Black...I tried and tried with MMF (chocolate) to go from brown to black and felt like I was kneading forever, I gave up after 2 different tries because I have no patience.
Black Satin Ice is my savior!! HTH

I wouldn't really hold your breath waiting for Wilton's to turn black. It isn't going to happen. I had a similar incident, I was trying to get gray, and it never left purple. Wilton's response was I should have mixed the coloring first.... uh huh. But if you're making MMF, substitute some of the powdered sugar for powdered cocoa so you have a darker base to start with, the add black coloring. Here's my cake that was supposed to be gray, but ended up purple (that's silver dust on it too).

Here we go ... MMF with 3/4 c Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa and two GOOD squirts of AmeriColor Super Black. The bride (probably MOB ) isn't sure what she wants, so each side is different and there are three borders made from leftover pearl clay from the last wedding. I have to admit, I am thrilled with my black MMF and it tastes very similar to tootsie rolls!

This may be too late to help you, but... here goes...

It is Midnight Black, truly, and tastes like vanilla.. sound too good to be true??? Kind of is. That's because it isn't fondant. It is candy clay made from Wilton's Candy Melts. They sell the candy melts is a midnight black color, which are out for halloween about now.

You melt the full bag of candy melts as per package directions. They will still appear a little gray, don't worry- it will look like tar soon enough!

When fully melted, add 1/3 cup light karo syrup and stir to mix. Turn out onto wax paper to dry. Store in a baggie or other airtight container overnight. Best if allowed to harden overnight. The next day, Knead small portions at a time into a workable clay. This is easy to knead. Fantastic to work with. Easy on the hands. I have molded everyhting from homer simpson to naruto figures to worms to you name it, I have covered cake layers without even adding any gum tex to make it more pliable, just rolling it out and applying it. The gum tux or some glycerine does help if you want to cover a cake layer. But- LABEL the batches you have that in- it won't hold up if you try to model something with that in it! It makes roses, etc, etc, etc.

The black is a deep true midnight black, the color of TAR, and the red a beautiful true red- both VANILLA flavored. Quite a shock to all of us who have struggled forever to get rid of the horrible flavor from that that "no taste red" food color".

And everyone wants to know what this is that tastes soooo goood! Like CANDY! Just smile!

For you folks needing a fondant to cover a cake, here is an idea I've tried, worked pretty well for me, I added 1/2 Tablespoon of Wilton Gum Tex to the Candy Melts when I melted them when I also added the Karo syrup. It helped to keep it more pliable. Glycerine may also help. You may need to play with the gum tex, and any better ideas, please share!

By the way, same solution works fantastic for red also!

You could visit the wilton website @ www.wilton.com for the candy melts candy clay recipe.

Great idea to mix it. I hadn't thought of that. I had photos, until a computer meltdown a little while back. I thought I had them backed up, but have not located them yet. I covered a 9x13 rectangle with the candy clay made from 1 bag on one cake. It was red. I had used that batch for other decorations as well, so it didn't take the full bag. I didn't use the gum tex then, so splitting was a concern along one corner, but I was able to repair.

I am about to do a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at the end of the month, which will be using a great deal of red and black candy clay to cover, so I will follow up and lat ya know.

I was just kneading some and tried kneading in confectioner's sugar and noticed it getting very much like fondant, and the volume increasing. So that may be a good option also. I was preparing it for the Mickey cake coming up, playing around to see what other options may work. The black stayed very true no matter how much sugar I incorporated. I estimate about 2 cups.

I only use the candy clay as a covering for the red and black, since the batched don't go as far.

The mint sounds great, too. thanks for the tip!

I used cocoa powder to help the black to take, and it worked like a charm and I used a couple tbs of black coloring too....