OMG!!! I don't know what to do desperation is setting in... I have 2 cakes due tommorrow, (first paying customer ever) and she wants 2 burgundy BC covered cakes shaped like a beret for 25 ppl each... So I made 10" double layered cakes so I could have enough to carve...But now Its late, and the buttercream is lilac!!! I've dumped 1 1/2 jars of wilton "no taste"(supposedly) red, about half a container of black and tons of blue and the color doesnt change!! I can't get americolor around here and I hv no tim to order any online!! OMG OMG OMG I'm freaking out... What should I do?? PLEASE

One more thing arghhhh, It tastes horrible now, really bitter I almost think its unusable, my husband says its not that bad, but its for a customer for gosh sake!!! I could always upgrade her to fondant for free but to get this color I would have to buy a bunch of satin ice red n black n they go for $18 2lbs around here, so the cost only of all my ing would surpass what she is paying!!! OMG

Ok, ok, calm down. It takes time for those dark colors to develop.
To 'mask' the bitter flavor add more extract. Don't know what you usually use, vanilla? What flavor is the cake......what other extracts do you have? Combinations of flavoring are good
By the time a.m. roles around, the color probably will be darker than you want Hope it comes out at least close to what you are trying to achieve.

As kakeladi said the color will darken over time.

Wilton also sells Burgandy gel color, can you get to a Michael's or someplace else that carries Wilton?

I've used the Wilton Burgandy and it comes out fuschia at first, but darkens to Burgandy after a few hours.

How big a batch of BC are you trying to color?

Aww thanks, the taste is really really bad though just ran to the kitchen and tasted it again and its horrid! Aww ur so sweet... its too purple now though omg, I imagine the taste if I added anymore red though!! I just feel horrbile and dissapointed
hv u ever had to mask a taste before?? Ill definitely try, thanks soooo much for the advice!! One cake is rum cake filled with caramel, and the other is vanilla with strawberry preserves, I have, Wilton clear vanilla, rum, lemon, strawberry, mint extracts, but oMG the taste makes me want to throw up...

It's to cover both cakes, hmm I would say 6 or 8 cups of BC... Really wilton sells burgundy? gosh I just came back from walmat and didnt see it, so got a big red one which I dumped all into the icing too se absolutely nothiiiiingggggg

OMG at this point Im beyond crying, please someone tell me its been done before Im sorry I know Im being absolutely paranoid, and it doesnt seem like a big issue, but with OCD, and it being my first customer im having a really horrible self esteem nervous break down, and I dont know why I even got into cake decorating!!! if It all flops tommorrow I will want to jump into a hole and die...

Sherri is absolutely right. Dump the icing in the trash and make a new batch. Start over fresh in the AM after you try and get your hands on the burgundy Hopefully the cake isn't due until later in the day!

I hope things are better up at Fort Bragg now. I'm pulling for you!!!

Hazel

How did it turn out?

Something no one has mentioned.......what kind of shortening did you use? Is it non trans-fat? If so you need to use full fat milk as the liquid in your recipe for the color to 'ripen'.

I don't know if you can find it around your area, but you should try Americolor instead of wilton.

I used maroon before, and it didn't leave any bad taste and I didn't need to use a whole bottle either. It does take some time for the color to settle, be patient.

Well, lessons to learn. Just don't take it too hard on yourself. Let us know how you did it.

Good luck!

.....students using the trans fat free Crisco, the ONLY color affected is violet, and ANY type of milk, from skim to heavy cream, is the fix.....

O.k. I stand corrected LOL
I haven't done much decorating since the change in Crisco so I really was saying that from what I have read on here and other boards

No biggie. I would be pulling my hair out if that TFF Crisco affected more than one color. LOL

Or I would be selling my students Americolors out of the trunk of my car like a drug dealer.

hii
im still a newbie but i know what ur going through because i had this same problem with my first paid wedding cake and the bride had requested red roses[and we all know how hard that is to get!]anyway,i messed up the first batch after using three to four bottles of red and then panicking and throwing some burgundy in there
i finally got it the right shade and the next time i looked at it,it was too dark to be red anymore and i had to start over and make a whole new batch of icing and make an emergency trip to the store and buy more red[we only have wilton here!]
anyway my point is that the wilton burgundy color does work and u just need to leave it covered and in a dark place and let it sit for a while for the color to darken
i really hope everything worked out but in case it didnt dont give up!
big hug

I agree with the others...if possible....ditch the buttercream you made. I don't know that any amount of flavor will cover the bitter taste. Make a fresh batch of icing, add the burgendy tint, clean up your work space then RELAX. It will be ok. Go take a walk, bath, anything to take your mind off of it for just a little while. Whenever i get totally overwhelmed i do this and I always feel better afterwards. Then later tonight resume work on it, or wake really early and start then. You will feel more in control of the situation.
If all else fails, tint it to the nearest possible shade, explain to customer the challenges that can occur getting these sorts of colors, apologize and maybe offer a slight discount on next cake. Just a thought.

Hope it all works out. HUGS>

Suzanne

Yeah, what they said ^^^^^ You beat me to the words......

LOL girls

You know what would happen...I would start selling the "easy" stuff out of the trunk of my car, but Americolors would just be the gateway into harder and harder stuff for my poor Wilton students...then they'd be asking me to start supplying them with Satin Ice fondant, and Tylose, and PME tips....and then before you know it, I'd get busted by Wilton and they'd put me in jail and serve me nothing but Wilton fondant and water for my meals...

I guess I'm gonna have to JUST SAY NO.

OH-H-H-H!!! Wilton Fondant and water.... sounds like death row!!!!!

I had the exact same problem two weeks ago. I used the Wilton Burgundy colour and had to use the entire container to get it even close to burgundy then it tasted like poison! Luckily I had a couple days because I was doing royal icing roses in advance so I ordered the Americolour one and it's so so much better. It is true though that you have to wait a couple hours or more for the colour to darken. I learned all this the hard way too! Now I'm slowly replacing all my colours with Americolour. I have to order them on line though because I live in Canada. Good Luck, Hang in there; you're not the only one that's been through this trust me! :0) :0)

Sherri, your cracking me up. Nothing but Wilton Fondant and water

Okay thepinklotusstore,
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END?

If you can't get burgandy... couldn't you use no tatse red and then a touch of brown. Brown doesn't have the blue and purple and green in it like black does so it wouldn't pull the color into the blue side. ...?