Colouring ready to roll icing.

[LaDiDaDi]

I need to colour some ready to roll icing to decorate dd's birthday cake but I remember last time that I tried I just made a sticky mess.

Any tips on how to be more successful?

I need a few colours and I've got heaps of icing and colouring. Someone suggested painting the icing but she wasn't sure how well this would work?

[LovelyRitaMeterMaid]

I did some for DD's birthday cake - I put in little bits of food colouring and kneaded it a lot before putting any more. I was amazed I didn't get a sticky mess

[Anifrangapani]

Use either powdered, paste or gel colouring - you can get them from specialist cake decorating stores or on online.

[muddleduck]

I agree with Anifrangapani - if you use liquid food colouring then it usually ends up a sticky mess.
IMO painting always ends up looking a bit tatty, but it is much quicker. depends a bit on what you are making.

[LaDiDaDi]

Thanks for the quick responses.

It's too late to go to a specialist shop or order online. I've got liquid colouring and I've got some writing pens which I could perhaps use to mix with the ready to roll stuff to add colour?

[stealthsquiggle]

You need paste colours. If you really really can't get any, then you could try adding cornflour to some liquid colouring to make a paste and then knead that in? As long as you don't need deep colours it would work OK - and if you need areas of deeper colour you could paint over the top - it would be more effective than painting on a white background, I think.

The problem with painting is that if you do it with paste colours, you dilute them with vodka or other clear spirits so that the liquid evaporates quickly without leaving the icing sticky - so liquid colour is going to be a bit of a sticky mess, I think.

[muddleduck]

the liquid colouring can be fine just don't try and put too much in. Go for pastel type colours - you can't make red or black this way (you just pink and grey). Use lots of icing sugar to stop it getting too sticky.
If you want to paint then it helps to give the icing time to try out a bit so that the colour doesn't bleed.
What you going to make?

[LaDiDaDi]

Thankyou ladies!

I have found a shop online nearbyish. Open til 4 so once cakes are out of the oven then I'm off at top speed!

[LaDiDaDi]

Bought the colours !

Now that I think about it I used powder colour for my Xmas cake in 2007 and that worked well so hoping these paste ones will too.

I'm making a Peppa Pig so I got red, pink and black.

[stealthsquiggle]

For the black

(a) don't despair if you get dark grey - leave it for a while (well wrapped) and it will get blacker.

(b) and much more importantly - make it brown and tasty first with lots of cocoa powder - then go for black - you will get a better colour with less colouring

(because of (a) I would be inclined to colour the black first IIWY to give it time to rest while you cover Peppa in pink and red)

Good luck!

[LaDiDaDi]

Thanks for the tips!

Any more?

[campion]

Use a little cornflour on your hands / board / paste when shaping or rolling the icing. It's not sticky like icing sugar so the icing feels smoother and is easier to deal with.

Personally, I'd buy black icing but if you're making it don't let it touch anything else until you've put it where you want it. It's a nightmare for staining.

[cakedecorator]

Hi you need to use paste colour NOT liquid colour if you are going to colour icing, if you need to colour up a lot of a deep colour - e.g. red or black, then you need to invest in the extra concentrate colour by sugarflair. Else you will use a full pot of
black ordinary paste colour, to get charcoal!