I have a B+W Damask wedding cake for July and had questions about piping the black icing onto the cake... Royal icing is best for piping onto fondant right?? What's the best way to make TRUE black royal icing?
How far ahead of time can I pipe the detail work onto the cake with out the color bleeding or discoloring..? So many questions!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to help!

I like to use royal for piping on fondant since it dries hard. That way when it's dry if someone bumps it, it doesn't smudge.

As for color, I think you just have to add a lot of black color until it's the color you want. I'd start with less water in the recipe so that adding all that coloring doesn't change the consistency too much.

Start with chocolate icing..then you don't have to add so much black.

I didn't know there was a chocolate roayl icing recipe. Use chefmaster liqua gel oclors and you will get black instantly. No bad taste and use very little coloring.

Couldn't you just add a little bit of cocoa subbed for some of the icing sugar for chocolate royal icing? Or does that effect the consistency?

I would like help on this too. I am from the UK so alot of the brands like Americolour and Chefmaster aren't available unless I pay extortionate shipping costs...

Does anybody have a recipe for chocolate royal icing which would still be a good enough consistency for piping?