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Black Cake Icing

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Black Icing Techniques
If you want to make a Twilight party cake or a cake for Halloween, you will probably need black cake icing. There are several alternatives. These tips will help you decide which method is best for your cake.


Image by Kathi Atamanuk

 

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Black Cake Icing Options

There are three main options, each describe in detail below - just cick on the name:

1. Black Icing Color - Cheap
2. Black Icing Tube - Convenient
3. Black Icing Spray - Large areas

It's also possible to combine other dark colors to create black but that's only necessary if you cannot buy black food coloring or black icing.

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If you would like some help on making royal icing, then this lens has some great tips for you.

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Black Icing Color

This is probably the cheapest option and should be easy to buy in your local supermarket but there are a number of possible drawbacks which you may encounter.

★  Unless you use a lot, you might not get a dark black color.

★  Using a lot of black icing color sometimes causes a somewhat bitter taste

★  You could stain your mixing bowl.

Tips

1. To avoid having to use a lot of black coloring, add cocoa or chocolate to the icing before adding the coloring.

2. If you make your icing a few days early and add the coloring it will gradually become darker. Remember to store it in the fridge.

3. Wear an apron to protect your clothes
Wilton Black Icing Color

Wilton Black Icing Color

Amazon Price: $0.89 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

★Very cheap.
★Low on convience
★May be good enough.

Black Cake Icing Recipe

Black icing and black food coloring are stocked widely for Halloween but can be hard to find at other times of the year. I have shown links to Amazon through the lens as they may have stock, but if not (or if you are in a hurry and can't wait for delivery) then use your favourite royal icing recipe and add some red, green and blue food coloring. Together they should make black. You might want to add slightly more green than the other colors:: dark green looks almost black anyway.

Tips

1. I have a lens all about making royal icing if you want help with that

2. Adding cocoa to the royal icing mix will make it darker and you will need less food coloring. If you can get it, black Dutch cocoa works best.

3. Some people prefer this approach as the Wilton black color in the above methods cannot be digested and will pass through unchanged. Some people dislike this. It can also stain teeth.

Black Icing Tube

This is still relatively cheap, and reportedly gives a decent color:

★  Does not need to be stored in the fridge - check freshness before use

★  Avoids the problems associated with mixing your own color

★  Kosher versions available (not featured below)

But ..

★  Some people have reported a slightly minty taste

★  The tube is fairly small - best for decoration rather than full coverage

★  Kosher versions may be more expensive
Wilton Icing - Ready-to-Use - Tube - Black

Wilton Icing - Ready-to-Use - Tube - Black

Amazon Price: $3.50 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

★  Inexpensive
★  Convenient
★  Best for small areas

Cake with Black Icing by Little Yiye from Flickr (Creative Commons, Attribution, Sharealike)

Cake with Black Icing by Little Yiye 

Get Into Cake Decorating

Learn How to Ice Cakes

If you want to bake and ice cakes but need some help, then this book might be a good place to start. There are plenty of other books out there but this one has a big advantage - it's cheap.
Wilton 902-1232 Cake Decorating for Beginners Guide

Wilton 902-1232 Cake Decorating for Beginners Guide

by: Wilton

Amazon Price: $1.45 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now
Used Price: $3.00

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Black Icing Mist

Spray on black cake icing

This is by far the most expensive option, but is good for covering a large area quickly

★  Just spray on

★  Avoids the problems associated with mixing your own color

★  Kosher version available (check carefully)

But ..

★  Icing spray is unsuitable for making thickness or texture

★  The Kosher version may be more expensive

Tips

1. The color is only thin and slide off. Ice the cake as late as possible before serving.

(When I was checking Amazon, the version listed was I think Kosher. If this matters to you, please check carefully. If you don't need a Kosher product, you might find one a few dollars cheaper.)
Wilton Black Color Mist

Wilton Black Color Mist

Amazon Price: $2.79 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

★Super convenient
★Good for covering large areas
★Unsuitable for building thickness
★Expensive

How about Gold Fondant?

Just as black icing has an unfair reputation for being hard to make, so does gold fondant. Actually it is easy to make gold fondant too.
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More Uses for Black Cake Icing

Use black frosting in exciting ways

For Valentine's Day, red velvet the way to go
4 and black icing to pipe dot pupils and outline mouth. Position heart picks. For other cupcakes, spatula ice cupcake smooth or top with tip 22 mini cupcake icing swirl or tip 1M standard cupcake icing swirl. If desired, place in cupcake wraps.
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Have You Used Black Cake Icing?

If you have used black cake icing or have other tips, then please leave your own personal experiences below. You don't need to be a member of Squidoo to leave a message.

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And finally, I'd like to thank a few developers whose icons I feature on my lenses: Dry Icons for the Portfolio icon; Gopal Raju for the Twitter Bird; Icons-Land for Sweet Angel; Maja Benic for the Contact & Home icons.

I will receive commission if you buy any Amazon, eBay AllPostsers products etc which I have featured or from Theban Moon, my Zazzle store. Product assessments are offered in good faith based on reported customer experience but you should verify facts yourself before making any purchase.
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Kate-Phizackerley

Off Squidoo I am a middle-aged woman with a wide range of interests from Ancient Egypt, backgammon, cookery ... to ... Zimbabwe which I visited 20 years... more »

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