Some colours, such as black and red, can be a bit tricky to achieve with food colouring. Black often leans more towards a dark grey, and red towards a deep pink — and that’s exactly what we don’t want.
With some colourings, like yellow for example, just a single drop is enough to instantly create a beautiful yellow shade in your buttercream or fondant/marzipan. But with red, black and other dark colours, it can feel like you’re squeezing out half a tube and still not reaching the right shade. So yes, these colours simply require more colouring. It also depends on which colourings you use. In our shop, we sell highly concentrated gel food colourings from Rainbow Dust, Funcakes and Wilton.
Another important thing to know is that these colourings often continue to deepen over time. This means the colour sometimes needs a little while to reach full intensity. For example, if you’ve already added quite a bit of black colouring to your buttercream and it still looks anthracite, just wait a few hours — you’ll see the colour become much deeper. The same applies to royal icing, fondant, gumpaste or marzipan. If you have the time, colour your fondant the evening before you plan to use it; by the next day it will be fully developed. Of course, you can also simply buy ready‑made black and red fondant or marzipan in our shop if you prefer
Here you see two photos. The left photo shows buttercream right after adding Rainbow Dust Progel Black. The right photo shows it a few hours later — the colour has already deepened.
Extra colouring tips! If you don’t have time to wait, you can colour a small amount of your buttercream and warm it briefly in the microwave. Heating it will bring the colour to full intensity immediately. Then mix this into the rest of your buttercream. This also helps you determine what the final colour will look like, so you won’t be surprised if your pastel shade suddenly turns out a bit bluer. The same method works for pre‑coloured fondant, marzipan, etc. First colour a small piece and wait until the colour has fully developed. Then add white if needed to reach the exact shade you want.
Looking for food colouring? Take a look at our wide range of colourings in the webshop.
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