Hi all. I'm making some gum paste flowers for a wedding cake and they need to be a dark apple red. I already know that this is a very hard color to achieve but it must be possible since I saw Christopher Garren's shop do it on Amazing Wedding Cakes this week.

I've done some practice petals and tried petal dust to get them dark red - not dark enough.

I've tried painting them with powdered red color and Vodka and I've tried red gel and a little vodka to thin it...just not a pretty result (splotchy look from the gum paste dissolving a little as I painted.

I'm going to try my airbrush next to see if I like the outcome but wanted to see if any of you had other ideas also so I can try them.

I also had a thought of buying some red Satin Ice fondant and adding some tylose powder but I don't know how dark that red is.

Here's some pics of some cakes where their flowers are about the red that I need.

I thank you all for any help you can give me on this!

yeah I would give it a base color of red with gel color then after they have dried very hard use the airbrush. After that dries you can use powered color for sparkle or matte finish or even to make it darker red.

To get a decent red in fondant or gumpaste without adding to much bitter flavor you should start out by paste coloring your dough with pink then add red til you get where you want. After that you can luster, petal, or airbrush to accent. Red fondant with tylose would be more appropriate for drapes and bows but may not roll thin enough or hold up as well as a rose needs. At least this is my exp. Good luck.

I've been wondering the same thing myself. Let me know if the airbrushing works for you.