Can Anyone Tell Me How To Mke Black Buttercream???

Decorating By malishka Updated 7 May 2009 , 4:03am by Tashablueyes

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malishka Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:05pm
post #1 of 22

Can anyone please give me a hint on how to make black buttercream? I started out with chocolate buttercream and added some blsck coloring to it, but it's not black. It's kind of a poop color. Excuse my french.

The colors of my cake will be red, white and black, but the customer doesn't want it covered in fondant. Getting the red and black in my buttercream is a real pain. How do I do this?

21 replies
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wendydou Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:14pm
post #2 of 22

start with chocolate buttercream and then add black coloring

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fabulosity Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:15pm
post #3 of 22

A hope, a prayer and a LOT of black color! I despise making black things. Unless you buy black buttercream or fondant it literally takes me forever to get something to an actual black. I usually hit ugly brown of all shades before I get to black. I made a bad decision and started from white buttercream one time...that was a lovely shade of purple and then many many shades of grey before it was finally black. icon_cry.gif

Basically put a ton of black gel coloring and keep it moving is what I do. HTH! thumbs_up.gif

FYI...red is the same way. You will hit many a shade of pink before you get to red.

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cricket0616 Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:18pm
post #4 of 22

I have always made black the hard way until joining cc. I just keep adding black coloring. I use the wilton gel and keeping adding. It will never get really black while mixing, but if you let it set a while, it will eventually get there.

My question is for the experts out there. What if you only need a little black and you don't want to make a batch of chocolate bc. Can you just add a little melted chocolate to the white bc?????

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adamsgama Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:21pm
post #5 of 22

It is very easy to make brown or red buttercream

Use permade chocolate icing and add black paste color to is. It only takes a very small amount and tastes yummy.

For red, I make my buttercream bright pink to start with, let it sit and hour (color always darkens) then I add Wilton no taste red. I then let it sit over night if I have time.

Works like a charm

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malishka Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:26pm
post #6 of 22

I guess I'm going to have to buy another little tub of black and dump the entire thing into my buttercream batch. Will everybodies mouths turn black while they eat it?

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kurrie Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:27pm
post #7 of 22

I have added cocoa powder to regular premade iceing then added black gel coloring. It should work for buttercream as well

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tiggy2 Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:33pm
post #8 of 22

For red or black use chefmaster liqua gel color. It takes very little, no bad taste and you get color instantly.

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Win Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:36pm
post #9 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by malishka

I guess I'm going to have to buy another little tub of black and dump the entire thing into my buttercream batch. Will everybodies mouths turn black while they eat it?




That, and they will probably be wondering why their trips to the bathroom look so odd the next day.... icon_lol.gif

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aggiechef Posted 6 May 2009 , 1:51pm
post #10 of 22

I had to do my black icing in stages because the color always darkens after it sits. I started with chocolate icing, added some black color, and then let it sit for about 30 minutes to let the color set. I repeated the add and sit method until the icing was finally black. I had to make a lot for the coffin cake in my pictures so it took awhile.

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lecrn Posted 6 May 2009 , 8:15pm
post #11 of 22

Use Hershey's dark choc. cocoa, then add Americolor or Chefmaster black color. You don't have to add that much color if you start off with choc buttercream. The color will darken as it rests. I made my pirate cake with black bc. Take a look in my photos.
Yes, you will still have a black tongue.

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kerri729 Posted 6 May 2009 , 8:27pm
post #12 of 22

Americolor Super Black..............and I have used it on white BC, but warn the guests, the teeth and tongues will turn black! icon_lol.gif

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mimimil Posted 7 May 2009 , 12:00am
post #13 of 22

i usually start with chocolate buttercream (premade or home made)- add black coloring - i use the americolor gels (super black) let it sit and add more color if its not as black as i would like it... but let it sit for a bit cause it darkens... and yes warn people about teeth/tongues lol HTH

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kandu001 Posted 7 May 2009 , 12:09am
post #14 of 22

I do choc. buttercream first, then add black. Even when it works out, black is no fun to make!

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tonedna Posted 7 May 2009 , 12:11am
post #15 of 22

I use chefmaster black and works wonderful.. I cant use chocolate buttercream if my clients want regular buttercream..
Edna icon_biggrin.gif

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kandu001 Posted 7 May 2009 , 1:50am
post #16 of 22

Good point Edna!! If they don't want chocolate buttercream and they want vanilla, you can't use cocoa powder!!

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tonedna Posted 7 May 2009 , 1:54am
post #17 of 22

lol..I know that if I was a client asking for a black amaretto cake and all I taste is chocolate and not amaretto I would be a very unhappy client..I like my flavors to be true..
Edna icon_biggrin.gif

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dolfin Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:06am
post #18 of 22

start out with brown frosting,( I like powdered color, doesn't make your bc thin out) then add black, wait awhile cause it will darken as everyone mentioned, add more black if you need it darker. If I am in a hurry I make brown or gray frosting then spray paint it black (edible paint of course!).

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kakeladi Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:08am
post #19 of 22

Very, very few people want an all black. Yes! indeed it will make their teeth/mouth ugly icon_sad.gif Those dark colors should be used very sparingly!
When you are finished decorating save all the **little**, tiny bits,& dabs of icing - like what you scrape out of the bag & the 'plug' of icing in the tip. Doesn't matter what color they are. Keep them in a jar in the fzr - adding to it each time you decorate.
When you need black, stir it up and add some black *super* coloring until you get a charcoal gray. You will be surprised how little it will take.
If at all possible make this at least the night before needing to use it - or early in the day so it has several hours to sit. The color will develop deeper over that time. Any unused can be returned to the fzr.

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jammjenks Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:11am
post #20 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by kakeladi

Very, very few people want an all black. Yes! indeed it will make their teeth/mouth ugly icon_sad.gif Those dark colors should be used very sparingly!
When you are finished decorating save all the **little**, tiny bits,& dabs of icing - like what you scrape out of the bag & the 'plug' of icing in the tip. Doesn't matter what color they are. Keep them in a jar in the fzr - adding to it each time you decorate.
When you need black, stir it up and add some black *super* coloring until you get a charcoal gray. You will be surprised how little it will take.
If at all possible make this at least the night before needing to use it - or early in the day so it has several hours to sit. The color will develop deeper over that time. Any unused can be returned to the fzr.




This is what I do, except I keep mine in the fridge instead of freezer. I was surprised no one mentioned it before. It is one of the countless tips I have learned from this site.

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tonedna Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:18am
post #21 of 22

To avoid using too much black what you can do is do the crumbcoat in white icing and then do a second coat in black. It saves color and black will give a great coverage over the white without having so much black buttercream on top of the cake.

Actually I do this technique in all of my cakes, saving lots of color. Not only that, it will help those people learning that when they see the white on the cake, it means that they are playing with the crumbcoat.. Is a good way to teach people how to do their icing.
Edna icon_smile.gif

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Tashablueyes Posted 7 May 2009 , 4:03am
post #22 of 22

Is it possible to just air brush it black? I have always wondered if you could get a true black that way and I just got my new air brush so I'd be interested to hear.

I always make my black the day before and just color it to a fairly deep gray and just add a little more color the next day if needed.

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