Help!! How To Get Really Bright Colours For Fondant?
Decorating By serenelui Updated 10 Apr 2008 , 6:00am by bigmama1961
Hi all.. i need help!! I have to do 250 cupcakes in 3 weeks time with a hippie theme. Problem I'm facing is that i can't get the fondant colours right. The colours I'm trying to achieve from the fondant are a bright orange, bright purple and a bright pink.
I can't get hold of any other paste colours except Wilton.. so does anyone have any experience getting the fondant colours to pop using Wilton paste colour?? So far i used red fondant to get a pink colour.. but i find it's still not bright enough after it's dry and that's after adding loads of red to the fondant. I used violet paste colour to try and get a bright purple.. but colour turns out a sweet violet colour regardless of how much of the colour i add!! Can anyone help me!!! I found this cupcake on flickr and this is the colour i'm trying to get for the pink and purple.. but i can't get it. Help me please!!! I'm at my wits end already 
I couldn't see your picture...but I've gotten really bright colors before. Try using Rose (not Rose Petal) for a hot pink. Sometimes you have to add a lot of color to fondant to get it good and bright.
I used Red Red and ended up with a deep orange color.
Another thing to try might be to use the McCormick Neon colors...they're a liquid so it might be hard to add enough without making your fondant too sticky, I haven't tried them for fondant, but they do have really bright colors and there's a hot pink and a purple. (I just threw out all my fondant scraps or I'd try mixing some and see what it does, sort of a test run for you)
try using the Americolor brand, they have a line of neon colours. the neon colours include electric blue, yellow, green, orange, pink and purple
i find that Wilton Rose is really bright though!
Hi all... sorry about the picture.. didn't realise that it didn't come up.. argghh.. :p
staceyboots.. i've heard so much abt Americolor and really wish i could find it where i am.. but unfortunately i can't get it where i am and it's too expensive to ship.. so i'm stuck with wilton colours..
Texas rose, after hearing you talk about McCormick, it sounds perfect for what i have in mind.. but i can't get it here too!!
Guess that leaves me with trying out the Wilton Rose for the pink... Thanks for the suggestion.. will let u know whether that works.
What about the purple.. i'm trying to get a colour similar to that of CC's header here.. anyone have any ideas.. or is it possible to mix colours to get the effect i need??
Those look like the Americolor Electric Pink and Electric Purple. That is where you can get really bright colors like that. Americolor has electric colors that are really bright. I just bought the pink and it's exactly the color in the picture. That's what they probably used.
Hi all... sorry about the picture.. didn't realise that it didn't come up.. argghh.. :p
staceyboots.. i've heard so much abt and really wish i could find it where i am.. but unfortunately i can't get it where i am and it's too expensive to ship.. so i'm stuck with wilton colours..
Texas rose, after hearing you talk about McCormick, it sounds perfect for what i have in mind.. but i can't get it here too!!
Guess that leaves me with trying out the Wilton Rose for the pink... Thanks for the suggestion.. will let u know whether that works.
What about the purple.. i'm trying to get a colour similar to that of CC's header here.. anyone have any ideas.. or is it possible to mix colours to get the effect i need??
Just wanted to say that my local cake/candy supply store didn't carry americolor colors OR gumpaste when I moved here........but i went in there and asked them if they had any a couple times and they offered to order some in and told me what the per piece price would be and I said, great...go for it, let me know when it comes in and I'll be here to buy some. That was all it took for them to order it! Now they carry a huge variety of americolor gels and I buy at least a bottle or two a week and that's good enough for them! They also sell candy making supplies so I got them to carry the flo-coat so you can use the americolors with chocolate as well and their other customers love it! So it's a win-win situation. Why not ask your local store to carry some????
wow.. your local store is so nice.. :p I've tried getting wilton cutters here as well.. and have asked the local stores here a couple of times about it.. but i think as demand here isn't all that great for the cutters and even colours, they tend to just stick with wilton.. plus since i'm only a small time user doubt they will order it in for me.. haha.. your local store is so nice 
damn.. if the colours were made with Americolor.. i think i'm in for a lot of problems with the bride cos these are the colours she wanted..
Thanks drgaddy for the great suggestion.. will definitely try this next... btw, how much colour do you usually add? i make about 450g of fondant at one time...
To get the purple you're looking for try mixing the Wilton Rose colour with blue. Just add a little of each at a time and build up until you get the depth and shade you're looking for (and remember to keep a note of how much you add so you know when you make it again!)
Also, you can buy Neon fondant. Of course, everyone hates Wilton fondant....but you can work on flavoring it instead. Just and idea!!!
I forgot to mention that sometimes the colors will deepen or change after a few hours.
I really think you can get those colors with the wilton colors. I have some cake photos that I haven't posted here, and they were all done with the wilton ones...here's the link if you want to see them http://darkmindseye.deviantart.com/gallery/ The only thing on that page that wasn't done with the wilton colors was the purple frosting on the big chocolate chip cookie...I used McCormick neon purple for that shade. But anyhow, you might just try adding a lot of color and see what shade you get.
hi all.. thanks for all the ideas... i'll try again for the purple and pink using wilton colours since i have them on hand... If it still doesn't work, i'll see whether i can get the chocolate powder colours :p
As for buying Wilton fondant.. this will seriously cut into my cost price so i'm hoping to stay away from buying the fondant :p
Texas rose, the ones i did this morning have dried up.. but unfortunately the pink and violet didn't darken much plus the purple and pink are more a sweet colour than the vibrant colours i wanted. However after hearing today what you guys said about it being possible to get the colours using wilton, i will try again and hopefully i can get the right colour this time. I'll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow. Thanks so much guys.. you're life savers
texas rose.. i just went to your website.. oh wow.. love the colours of your cakes.. all so vibrant and bright.. i seriously hope i can get my fondant colours as bright as yours.. but knowing that you managed to get these colours using wilton's paste colour is really an encouragement to me I definitely will try it again tomorrow and hopefully i can achieve the colours i'm looking for thanks so much
Hello serenelui,
My husband always help me with colors. He's saying that you should start with blue color and go little by little adding red until you get the color purple that you want.
He's saying that if at the end you find it too dark, just add a little bit of yellow.
thanks norma.. will try that.. i assume i have to make the blue pretty dark before i add the red in so i can get a brighter purple.. is that right? just wondering if i make a sky blue and add red to it.. will i get a whimpy purple or one that is nice and strong?
I get those exact colors with Wlton rose and violet. Forget the the toothpick method - I use a butter knife and pull out a glob of paste. It takes a lot of color! I love deep colors so I stock up on gel paste since I may use half a jar for one batch of fondant!
(I haven't noticed any difference between Wilton and Americolor).
I got a bright neon pink using the Wilton Pink color, a lot of it - rose has always come out a more muted color. I can't remember what I used for purple, but starting with red and adding royal blue just get you a nice bright purple.
IF IT WERE ME, this is what i would do. simply tell this bride (?) that if these are the exact colors she wants, that you'll need to order them, internationally (i'm assuming), and therefore the cost will be slightly higher for her. these colors really are not that expensive (about a US dollar for a small bottle) so if you need 7 bottles, plus shipping, its not going to be a huge increase in cost. it will likely be about 15 US dollars extra FOR HER, not you. otherwise, let her know that you may not be able to get an exact color match and it will have to do. however, my thoughts on this are, that in the meantime you'll be spending an equal amount of money on the expense of fondant and wilton colors as you experiment.
if the bride wants something you dont have, then she should be the one responsible if you have to special order something. just my opinion. i hope it works out for you.
http://www.intotheoven.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=americolor%20electric&keywords=americolor+electric
Hi melysa.. haha.. you're right.. will definitely do that the next time i get a fussy client. At present, i don't think i can get the colours in on time considering that her wedding is on the 3rd of May and yup i have to get it shipped internationally.
I'll continue to try with the wilton colours i have on hand and see if they work, if not, i'll just show her what i can get and let her know that its the best i can do.. guess there's no help for it if she still insists, i think i'd rather not do the order considering that i'm only charging her about $2 for each mini cupcake including the fondant decorations and set up and rental of a cupcake tower!!!
OMG!!! haha.. that seriously is a lot of colour paste!!! haha.. how much colour is that in relation to the amount of fondant you have?? :p
One batch of MMF!
For black and brown, I add about 1/4 c cocoa powder first.
maybe that's why i didn't achieve the colour.. i didn't add enough colour!! I get those exact colors with Wlton rose and violet. Forget the the toothpick method - I use a butter knife and pull out a glob of paste. It takes a lot of color! I love deep colors so I stock up on gel paste since I may use half a jar for one batch of fondant!
(I haven't noticed any difference between Wilton and ).
You sound just like me. Every time I go to Walmart I find myself buying a jar of paste or two, because you never know when you're going to need to make something a really loud color 
I used a whole tiny jar of red for my strawberry cake. I would have used more if I'd had it.
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