black fosting is a pain in the tooty!!! but the best advice i eve got was to make it a couple days ahead so the color will "ripen"-i use spectrum which is made by ateco-but it still takes a ton
Start with chocolate frosting to get dark colors like black and purple.
Exactly! It works great with fondant, too! You can start with chocolate fondant and add black coloring and it's much easier than starting with white!
Americolor super black is the best for true black. You don't need to use a ton of it and the color actually deepens faster than others!
I found that when I started with chocolate, it was a brownish black. I ended up making it a day before, starting with my normal buttercream and using almost an entire container of Wilton black gel. And surprisingly, it really didn't taste like it had a ton of coloring in it. I did find that it has a purple-y tint to it, so I added just a touch of yellow and that seemed to do the trick.
I just did a Darth Vader cake and was very worried about getting it black. If you go look at my pics, you'll see, he's definitely black.
Hi Nancyf,
Welcome to CC 
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Have you tried Americolor Super Black? They sell the line of Americolor here on CC...they are great.
Some members start with brown and then add the black. I've never had to do this because my black comes out truly black...just add a little icing at a time with more black gel 
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You can also white icing - start with a brown base then add black. Let it sit for a day or two and it will get darker as it sits and you will not get that bitter taste from the color.
I just did some gumpaste, started with brown add black came out great.
I made my black roses and spider starting with the Chocolate Syrup Frosting- but I used the new Dark Chocolate Syrup (yummy!!) the mixed Americolor black with it and let it "ripen" overnight. It was a perfect black color and I did not need to use very much color! NO purple undertones at all. They crusted a bit but that is what I wanted so I was very happy and so was the bride and the birthday boy!!
Tracy
Problem with starting with chocolate frosting (which of course for ME is a food group! LOLL) is ALLERGIES!! I'm having more and more people with more and more food allergies these days! Sometimes that can limit MY creativity! BUT, happy to oblige for my clients!
Beth in KY
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