I have kneaded black color into my mmf for what seems like forever and it is still more purple than black. Has anyone ever tried adding color to melted marshmellows prior to stiring into powdered sugar? Will this be easier and look more black?

Haven't tried adding color to melted marshmellows - not a bad idea if you want all the fondant that color. As for getting it black, try adding a little violet to a small amount of MMF. Violet makes black blacker in royal icing and buttercream. I haven't tried it in MMF so I would try it on a small piece first.

Good luck. Black is difficult to achieve.

thanks, have to try that next time. I don't think I have any violet in the cabinet, and need to make a road for a race car cake I am doing for friday. guess I will need to run to the store.

I add the color to the melted mm and it works great

If I need the entire batch the same color, I always add the color to the melted marshmallows. You just have to stir it in instead of kneading it. Much easier on the hands. It will take a lot of color to get black though. Good Luck!

When making black, I have found that if it is a full batch of MMF ( 2# powdered sugar and 16 oz bag mini marshmallows) you will need to use the entire tub of Wilton black coloring. I haven't been able to try the Americolor black with MMF yet, so I can't tell you about that. But it does take the ENTIRE tub of Wilton's black.

Black is always a very difficult color to achieve..that's why wiltons suggest that black only be used as accent, same with red.

If it does not turn black, either paint it w/ coloring gel or air brush.. in the cake challenge last Sunday (Celebration Cake Challenge), the Asian lady painted black gel on the black areas. I rarely used black for this reason. good luck

Thanks for the info!! it's always good to know different tips on how to...
I have heard or read (can't remember which) that for a black color you have to start w/red then blue, then purple and so on. you are "supposed" to add all the colors before adding black to get a deep deep black.
i have never tried doing it with fondant so i wouldn't know.

Well I turned MMF black by accident...and I didnt even need to use any colorings!! Anyway I was trying to make chocolate fondant. After I melted the marshmallows I was going to add (this is probably important..) the dutch processed dark cocoa and some powdered sugar. Well I didnt sift the two together (I dont know if that would have made a difference or not) but I added the dark cocoa to the melted marshmallows and it was black! So I thought "okay when I add the sugar it will turn brown"....nope, still black! I cant tell you exactly how much I added, it might have been something like a 1/4 cup to a small batch of fondant and my plan was to remove that amount of powdered sugar from the recipe. Anyway it tasted good and seriously it was black, not dark brown. I even posted a thread about it a couple of weeks ago.

I always start out with a brown base first, then I add my black. PoodleDoodle - I never heard of using violet. I will have to try that next.

The black cake in my photos is black MMF. I always color my MMF when the Marshmellows are melted. I get the color I want then add the PS. I have not noticed a big change of color once the PS is added.

If you dont' need a large amount of one color here is a recipe for a smaller batch of MMF. I tend to use this one more b/c I have more consitant results with it.

HTH

Leily

Marshmallow fondant

1 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp water
1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup powder sugar

Place marshmallows in a standard 1 cup measuring cup and push down and pack them in. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Just long enough for them to soften and puff up. Take out and stir with a spoon until it is combined well.

At this point it looks kind of soupy. Then add the sugar and mix and fold until all is incorporated and it is no longer sticky. I take it out of the bowl when it gets to the point where most of the sugar is incorporated and I knead it in my hands. This takes roughly about 5-7 minutes. Take a fondant roller or a regular rolling pin and roll out just as you would Wilton's fondant.

You can get this fondant almost paper thin and it also repairs well.
It's cheap, easy to work with, and tastes great too.

I've made 2 cakes with lots of black on them - the first with wilton black, the second with americolor. I think the americolor worked better.

One thing that hasn't been said. The color will darken the longer it sits. I'd suggest wrapping it up and letting it set over night - it may look a lot darker tomorrow.

Where do you get this from? "dutch processed dark cocoa"

Can you find it in grocery stores or is it only available online?

thanks,
Kat

I just got it from the grocery store, it is made by Hersheys. I swear to you that it was totally a mistake, but great to know!! Hope it works again!!

Here is a photo of it in case anyone was skeptical...I still have it because it wasnt what I was going for at the time!

I was just on the Hershey's website. Is it Dark Chocolate? i already have the regular powder at home, that's pretty light in color when used. I tried using it for BC and it was light, light brown.

thanks again!

Yes it is dark cocoa here is a pic of the can... it is much darker (and much better tasting IMO)

Wow, that is black. And usually when you add all that black coloring it throws off the taste and texture...so this dutch coco poweder would solve all thos problems.

Thanks for sharing!

No problem, hope it works again!

Yea, it's always hard to recreate results when the results were created out of an accident in the first place....or something like that.

For the small batches of MMF, you don't add any flavorings, like vanilla, like you would if you made a whole batch?

So I had to try the dark cocoa thing and it worked!! The MMF is very black and I didn't have to add any color. Tastes pretty good - very deep cocoa flavor. Merissa thanks so much for sharing!! CC rocks!!!

merissa - thank heavens for small mistakes, lol. I am so excited about this piece of information, my hands were swollen for two days the last time I needed a lot of black mmf. You are a life saver...and a hand saver! If only you could accidentally make red!

Didn't read everyone elses comments so I don't know if they have the same advice I have... but yes I ALWAYS add my coloring when my marshmellows are melted...I get a brighter color and I'm not forver kneeding my mmf....
I had a similar experience this weekend with black fondant....I tried adding black to my melted marshmellows but because I added so much when I added the powdered sugar it broke down and turned this awful crumble consistency! Very bad and had to throw the whole batch away ...because I was just using black fondant as decoration, and because thanfully I have a cake store near by. ...I just went and bought satin ice's black fondant and it was super black and definitely took a huge load off my back!! I did the same thing with my red...(I'll post my cake pics later today) I got the brightest pink color without it turning red so I just ended up buying it again! One thing to remember though is as your mmf sits out it will get darker...a couple of days later what little fondant I was able to salvage, my charcoal gray mmf is now black...same with the red.....definitely not as dark as the satin ice but still black!! Hope this helps and good luck!!

Yes, that mistake provided a great solution for black fondant! Plus it tastes pretty good! Someone will have to let me know if it works again. I havent tried to make black since!

There is a thread going around about using red koolaid to make red buttercream (I think) Maybe someone should try it with fondant....

I have a few questions...did you get the dutch cocoa at a specialty shop? My grocery store does not have it and how much cocoa do you add to a batch to make black? Also, I have used the kool-aid to make red mmf and it works great I used 2 envelopes(elmo cake in photos).

I cant remember exactly how much I used...But I think it was like 1/4 cup for a SMALL BATCH. But what I would do if I had to make it again, would be to keep adding the cocoa to the melted marshmallows until it turns black, then add the sugar (maybe reducing the amount of sugar by the amount of cocoa used) Because in my experience adding the sugar did not change the color.

I just got it at Meijer (but I think those stores are only in the mid west...But it is a large grocery store...kind of like a superwalmart or something. I havent really looked at the smaller grocery stores.

Good to know about the kool aid for red!!

When I made it yesterday I used about 1/4 cup for the small batch of MMF and it was very black. I bought my cocoa at a local grocery store, but I found that they only carry it at one of the four different stores I checked. Thanks for the red koolaid tip! That is next on my list to try!