I will be making a wedding cake in May that will have 2 black tiers and 2 white tiers. I have been trying to find a dark chocolate frosting recipe so I can use minimal black coloring. Does anyone have a recipe for a really dark brown chocolate icing? I have tried several that say dark chocolate, but they come out light brown. I'm not sure if I use too little chocolate of the wrong brand/type.

I don't want any of the guests to end up with a black mouth. If I can't find a recipe that's dark enough I will probably use dummy cakes for the black tiers and have the same size in the kitchen covered in white.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Any amount of black dye will turn people's lips/teeth gray. I used black bc once only as a border. The venue was still talking about that cake (and not in a good way) 2 years later. Lesson learned.
Chocolate icing will gets darker as it sits.

Thank you. I guess I'll go with the cake dummies. I've read that some use an airbrush for black. Wouldn't that be like coloring the icing black?

Try using americolor black in any of your chocolate BC frosting. At first it looks dark grey. Then cover your bowl with a lid, as it sets it turns black. I just made a cake with black BC frosting this weekend. It does seem weird eating black frosting, but darn, it sure tasted good. Best Wishes!
  http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2304100/31st-birthday-for-lady-que

I would definitely go the dummy route especially for a wedding. Everyone's taking pictures and no one wants black mouths....even the airbrush alternative will leave some color on people.

I won't do black buttercream on a cake, not unless it is just scrollwork or a small border. I explain why and recommend fondant. I haven't lost any business over it.