Please talk to me about colouring icing

[HorryIsUpduffed]

Negotiations with DS, nearly five, have resulted in a request for a caterpillar cake, which will be a chocolate cake covered in green icing (leaf? grass?) and then a row of buns being the body of the caterpillar - chocolate finger legs.

Now, I'm quite happy with the cake bit, and indeed the icing bit (although I haven't decided whether I should do a fondant leaf or buttercream grass) but I have no experience with doing the kind of strong colours I want - only pastel colours from normal liquid colouring.

So please talk to me about ?gel food colouring, and give me your best hints, tips and suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

use paste food colouring, it works much better for getting a stronger colour.

www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/sugarflair-food-colourings

something like this.

Thanks!

Paste food colouring or ready coloured regal ice if you want coloured fondant may be cheaper. Good paste food colour is several ££ so only worth it if you are going to make more than one cake.

Ignore the sell by dates, paste colour lasts for years and years and years.

Green food colouring stirred into granulated sugar makes good grass. Coat board in green butter cream sprinkle on green sugar and put on caterpillar. (Or pig, at one time I made several pigs out of big and small Pyrex bowl cakes, a bun and marsh mallow trotters).

Love the pig cake!

Am starting with big cake to have something easily sliced at party, but apart from that both v helpful, thanks x

pig cake

I only mentioned it because the sugar grass worked so well.

Mine was better than this, you need to cut the side off the body so the head fits better and then poor piggy doesn't look like he's been sat on.

Anyhow, I'm your allowed chocolate caterpillar. DD2 hates chocolate cake and widges if anyone has chocolate B'day cake.

Picture doesn't have sugar grass the book I stole the recipe from did. (Our uni secretary sold books, being a broke postgrad she let me photocopy the one I happened to have the right sized bits to make).

Horry, when is it for? I have everything you could possibly need to decorate a cake. Am away til Friday afternoon but if you need it after that, text & I'll put a box of tricks together for you.

(Or you can have the PIL's phone number and get my spare key from them!!)

Great link, Startail! I like it when they show steps.

LadyD I still have several weeks so that would be fab! Take you out for lunch in lieu of payment?

Deal!!