Whenever I try to get very dark fondant colors (bright red, black, royal blue), they always seem pastel no matter how much color I add. I added almost a whole bottle of Americolor super black to cover a 10 inch square cake and it was still a medium gray! Is there a trick I don't know (other than buying the pre-made Satin Ice colors, which isn't very cost-effective for me)?

For black colors, fondant and frosting it's easy to just start with chocolate. Add cocoa to the fondant while you're making it then it won't be that you're going from white white to black but from a deep brown to a black much easier this way. As for red, you just have to keep dumping it in there... sad, but true unless you can find it pre-dyed.
Jen

Well, I read on here that for the colors red and black, you have to start with a different color base. For the red, tint the icing pink first, then add the red in. For the black, they say to add cocoa powder to get it brown, then add the black. I personally have not tried these methods, but have read these tricks many times on the forums=) Jen

What if you don't want a chocolate taste?

There are brown and black coloring you can always use if you don't want a chocolate fondant. I personally use Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa in mine when I want dark fondant. Just make sure that you omit about 1/2 cup of the sugar if you do though. And then you can add back as needed while kneading.

And if you use coloring, make sure it's put into the water, shortening at the very beginning, and use a paste not a liquid or gel. Liquid will change the consistancy, and gel just doesn't color enough. Last time I colored a fondant dark(non-chocolate) I used Wilton black in the little jars. Had to use almost the whole jar! After that I just went back to using cocoa. I prefer it over all.

Hope that helps!

I read that you could use unsweetened Kool-Aid for help in coloring red but when I tried that (YUCK!) I wouldn't think the pre sweetened would give the same effect but I won't do that again. What about using JELLO - has anyone tried that?? Just curious.

What happened with the Kool Aid that made it so bad? Just messy to mix or taste awful or what?

Jello probably wouldn't work as just an additive. However, you can make fondant using Jello. There is a recipe posted on the site. SophieBelle's Jello Fondant. Works pretty well, and while it won't give you a bright red, it might get you half way there. You'd have a cherry or raspberry flavored fondant though, which wouldn't be too bad, but it has to be what you want.

For the super dark colors, unless I just need a tiny bit for figure molding, I use the premade precolored Satin Ice. You can buy it at [url]www.countrykitchensa.com [/url]

I used the unsweetened Koolaid in BC for red and it was super sour. Luckily I only needed the red for the flowers so I warned the people eating it not to sutff a flower in their mouth. That's why I was wondering about the presweetened - if it would work or not.
Thanks for the tip about the jello fondant - I will check it out. I have a "poker chip" cake to make and will need red AND black fondant.