I used the basic MMF recipe which works great for me, however, I was wondering if anyone alters the recipe when they need to make dark colors? I really dread making black, red, etc because after adding all the color, its difficult to work with (as I am sure you all know!)

At any rate, have any of you had luck adding anything extra (shortening, corn syrup, etc) to the recipe to help with the "stretch"? thanks

Have you tried adding candy melts? It helps make the color darker without adding a bunch of coloring.

Thanks for the reply : )

Yes, I did think of using red candy melts..but I was afraid it would seize after I added the food gel?

When I am coloring fondant, especially the darker colors, I keep a can of shortening out. I'll add some color- I use the Americolor stuff- and knead it in a little, I add a little shortening and knead that it too. I do keep powdered sugar on hand as well for helping with sticky if needed.

If I know I have to make black, I'll add cocoa powder to my fondant when I am mixing all the powdered sugar in. I just use a little less sugar or it is too dry. Then I can add the coloring and it doesn't take as much. The chocolate fondant tastes like Tootsie Rolls, according to DH.

When I made an ant cake, yes the insect, I made chocolate fondant then added Wilton's Black Icing Color. It did not take much of the coloring to give me a nice black color. Though the texture was a bit different than the usual MMF, which I chalked up to the cocoa. It seemed adding a bit more shorteing was the thing to do. For me it seems to be a good idea to have shortening on hand just in case.

If working with white MMF I have heard about adding both brown and black coloring. This is because the black coloring can often add a bitter taste when a large amount is used. The person who told me about this added brown first then the black. I have not done this myself, but seems to be a reasonable thing to try.

As for the red, a touch of black seems to do the trick in making it more red - need to play around with it to get the color mix to where you want it.

Hope this is helpful to you.

Thanks for the relies : ) I am trying to get a nice, deep red. Hopefully, my fondant won't give me *too* much trouble, lol!

Usually when I need black or red it's in small amounts so I cheat and run to a craft store with my 50% off coupon and get a tub of Duff's red or black. I have colored MMF red before and used a color called Ruby Red and the best hint I can give you is to add the color during the first part of the mixing process instead of at the end.

http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.blogspot.com/2010/11/recipe-red-marshmallow-fondant-mmf.html

http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.blogspot.com/2010/09/recipe-marshmallow-fondant-mmf.html

Oooo great links - thanks for sharing!

I always use the Americolor super red and super black. Great product - no need to add too much color or use cocoa!

Sadly where I live we cannot get much of anything other than Wilton. The only other option is to order on-line, and then I need to make the shipping worth my while to do.

Just have to love this place with all the helpful people!

Thanks bunches, cakesrock, for the on-line ordering info! I'll have to give them a look, and with luck place an order. I tried some other site in Canada a while back - can't remember which one, but they kept delaying my order so many times that I finally canceled it.

Thanks everyone! great links!

Just in case, sugarsweets (Angela)'s name here in CC is AngelFood4.

This is her profile:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-forum-userprofile-639191.html