Question About Powdered Food Color?
Decorating By Price Updated 21 Jul 2008 , 10:51am by playingwithsugar
Thanks Maryak, I always use the gel colors too, but I just made a cake that I needed a deep royal blue for and I had to add so much gel to get the color I needed and the fondant got a little soft. I was just wondering if adding powdered color was an option.
I've always wondered about the powdered coloring too...
Hmmmmm......
I always use powder color in Buttercream. I tried the gel once and by the next day, the colors had bled together. It was a mess. I've never had the powder colors bleed, but you do have to use more to get a vivid color.
Powdered food color can be used to color anything. You just have to be wise in how you use it.
For instance, if you are making a PS BC, then you should sift the color into the PS before adding to the shortening.
Theresa 
From my experience, I can tell you that the powder red gives a much deeper color with much less color than Wilton's gel.
I just add it in the BC or fondant at the end, just like I would do with gel color.
Technically, they are for colouring chocolate - and anything else you want to colour.
They are actually the best product to use for colouring chocolate, since they are a dry ingredient, and need no emulisifier to prevent the chocolate from seizing.
You can even dye your Easter Eggs with powdered colours.
So, her information is good, just not complete. In the confections industry, using powdered colours for chocolate is just one of it's primary uses.
Theresa
One of the ladies at our cake club showed me how to stop the speckled effect in fondant, you take your fondant fold powdered colour in to centre, pop in microwave for 2x 10 second bursts. This in no way effects or heats the fondant, but it "pops" the powder colour and makes it heaps easier to mix in (we use a "u" in colour here in NZ).
I love using powdered food colors too. If you need to color something purple or red it's the only way to go.. there's no fading at all (much unlike the gel colors where reds fade and purples turn into corpse blue). I usually smoosh them up with a mortar and pestle before using them.. to get any tiny lumps out.
jkalman wrote
"much unlike the gel colors where reds fade and purples turn into corpse blue."
LOL!!! 
Love the description!
Theresa
Do you start with gel or paste then add the powder? I have had to add a ton of powder to get the right colors I need.
No.. I just add the powdered colors.. they will deepen as they sit.
Theresa.. it is the only thing I could think of one day as a beautiful purple faded as the red disappeared and I was left with this horrid shade of gray blue.. my cake had turned into a zombie..
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