I need to make an exact replica (or close enough) of the cake I attached below. I'm pretty confident I can achieve this cake. It's fairly simple.

My question is how to get that deep red color for the buttercream icing? I am so scared to use a lot of food coloring-for one, it might thin out my icing and two it might taste funny. I usually stick with the Wilton colors. Should I use the red wilton coloring and add as much as I need to get that deep red, or is there another source where i can purchase a coloring that will get me to this shade of red?

To me, to achieve a nice bright red, I use Americolor. It's by far easier to get the red you want with their brand.

I find that if I am making red-red, I use a combination of my reds. Some are Americolor (fantastic stuff) as well as the Wilton. And I am sort of stingy with the liquids during the making of the frosting since there is a potential for it being too soft with all the extra color. But I also use liquid airbrush colors too.

But I think the most important thing is to make this icing 2-3 days before you need to use it. The color will deepen nicely over that period. I have never been able to achieve that rich red for a substantial batch of icing if I try to make it the day of.....

Color that icing NOW. The longer it sits the stronger the color w/develope.
Start w/a base color of deep pink, orange, or yellow. You won't use as much red which can cause a bitter taste -- yes! even the no taste red

Any paste that has the word 'super' in it';s color name is stronger than others.

If you can tollerate(sp?) flavor use some Black Cherry or Strawberry KoolAid - the UNsweetened. About 1/4 teaspoon per cup of icing. This *must* be made at least the night before wanting to use.
Again, start w/a base of pink, orange, or yellow, then some red & the KoolAid.
When you look at the icing the next day you will find it has dark spots all thru it......never fear Just stir it up real good and it will be fine. No the spotting will not come back.

When I make red, I start off with pink then add americolor red (use can use wilton) let sit for a day or two. The color will get darker so start off with less. If you add too much it will be a really dark red. By starting off with pink you will not need to add that much red and get that taste wilton brands (americolor so far I have not tasted funny in frosting)

Good luck.

One thing nobody ever mentions is the use of the powder coloring, which works wonders on deep-tint colors like red and black. If you have access to the powder, try it and you'll love it.

One other thing is using candy colors. They're much more concentrated pigments, so they color up more easily.

Just a couple thoughts.

My Elmo cake (in my pictures) was made using the powder red. I love it. But I ran out...

So when I made my Razorback cake a week later I used Wilton no taste red. Mixed it up the day before I needed it and it looked like a really dark pinky-red. I added a touch more color before I iced the cake, and a few hours after I finished it, the color was this nice deep red. The Wilton definitely takes some time to develop the color, and it seems to intensify as the BC crusts (if you use crusting BC).

Ditto to Americolor red no bitter taste , for elmo I add some orange to the red. HTH

I use chefmaster liqua gel colors. It takes very little and you get red instantly (no waiting for it to intensify). You can see the vibrant color on the hamburger cake in my photos. They are concentrated colors so it doesn't take near as much as any others I have tried (wilton, americolor, etc.). No bitter taste to it either.

Americolor is the best!!

Awesome! Thanks gals! i think i might try ordering some americolor and seeing how that works!

A cake store employee told me to use the Americolor deep pink and chefmaster tulip red/no taste. She said get in deep pink first and add the tulip red to get the deep red that I was looking for. Well, it still had the bitter taste. It's a good thing that I had not use my good hi ratio shortenting for that batch. I used crisco because it was for a model giant cupcake. Was it the tulip red or the deep pink that tastes bitter?

Thanks!
Angie

I've never had a bitter taste from chefmaster and I just use straight red, no pink first.

Oh, I love powdered color and try to always mention it. It's made for chocolate, because you can't use the gel colors for chocolate.

I get a gross taste with Americolor, and Wilton No taste. I started buying my red and black premade from my local cake supply shop. It's a great color, and NO aftertaste at all!

I have the red and black powders, but I haven't used them yet. I am doing a Red Hat birthday cake for next weekend. Do I need to color my buttercream before adding the red powder? Does it get darker with time like the gel colors do? I don't want to add any more color than I have to.

Thanks,
Martha