Learn how to color fondant with gel food coloring for your cake decorating projects. Follow these easy tips to prevent a sticky mess and always get deep, dark vibrant colors.
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As I continue baking and cake decorating, I am learning so many new things and I love sharing them with you. You guys might also find these tutorials helpful: How to Marble Fondant For Cakes and How to Pipe Cake Borders (Buttercream) and this one on How to Make Gold Cake (With Edible Spray).
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Key ingredients
- Fondant- This should be a neutral white. It can be homemade or store-bought.
- Gel food coloring- Use whatever shade you like and whatever brand you prefer.
How to color fondant?
1. Add color- If you are using a squeeze bottle, add a few drops. If you are using the small jar, use a toothpick to add color. Don't double dip. Next, r Knead in a little bit of gel food coloring into your fondant. The warmth of your hands will make it more pliable.
2. Knead color- Rub your work surface with some shortening to prevent stickiness. Some people sprinkle powdered sugar. Now, use your hands to knead the color thoroughly until evenly distributed.
3. Add more color if necessary- If the shade is too light, add some more color and knead again until you have the desired shade.
4. Use immediately or store for later- Fondant dries quickly. If you are not using it right away, wrap tightly in saran wrap and keep at room temperature away from direct heat, sunlight and moisture.
What type of fondant to use?
You can use a store-bought brand or make a homemade version. Some of my favorite store-bought brands are as Satin Ice, Wilton, Cake Craft and Sunny Side Up. They come in the classic white color or you can buy their pre-colored ones, which are a great option in a time crunch. Try a few different brands yourself to see which one works best for you in terms of texture, flavor and smell. I like to make my own easy Homemade Marshmallow Fondant (MMF). It tastes great and is also super cheap to prepare and very pliable.
Best brands of gel food coloring
Some of my favorites are AmeriColor, Chefmaster, Sunny Side Up and Wilton. These range in prices and also sizes. I highly recommend using squeeze bottles. When I first started cake decorating, these weren't as easily available and we had to use toothpicks to add some gel from a small bottle onto fondant. It was so messy.
Tips and techniques
- Don't ever use liquid food coloring- You will end up with such a sticky mess.
- Prevent stickiness- By applying a small amount of shortening to your hands and work area. Another option is to sprinkle some powdered sugar or cornstarch. Please note that powdered sugar and cornstarch can dry out the fondant if used too generously.
- Knead fondant before tinting- This is because the warmth of your hands makes it soft and pliable. This allows you to incorporate the color seamlessly and effortlessly.
- Resting period matters- Let the tinted fondant sit for a few hours or even a few days. This allows the shade to develop and intensify.
- To make intense dark colors- You will have to increase the quantity of the food coloring and you will also have to increase the resting time period. Even then, shades like black and red are very hard to achieve at home. I recommend buying those two shades pre-tinted. It's just not worth the time trying to make those two at home. I have tried and failed many times.
- You can mix different colors- To create your own unique shades.
- Gel colors are concentrated- This means a little goes a long way. Start by adding a small amount and add more, as necessary. Your bottles will last you a long time.
- I highly recommend wearing disposable gloves- Especially if you are making dark shades. These colors will stain your nails and fingers and it takes quite a few washings to get rid of them.
- If your work area gets stained- Just wiping with a wet cloth doesn't work. However, these stains can easily be removed with a strong cleaning spray. Better yet, protect your counters by lining your work area with a silicon mat that you can wash with soap and water later.
- If you are making a large quantity of the same color- It's best to just add that gel color when you are mixing in all the ingredients. You will already be kneading and mixing the marshmallows and sugar. You might as well add color too, just so you don't have to do it later.
- Natural color alternatives- I really don't like them nor do I recommend them. They are usually made with beets, turmeric and are yield very dull shades.
Storage
- Room temperature- For best storage, wrap unused tinted fondant tightly in plastic saran wrap and then place in a sealed container. Store this away from direct sunlight, heat and moisture.
- Refrigerate- This is not recommended since the moisture from the refrigerator can make fondant sticky.
- Freeze- This is not recommended since the fondant can become sticky upon thawing.
- Make ahead- Tinted fondant can easily be prepared 1-2 day in advance.
Becky
Do you have a chart of how much of each color works well to create other colors?? I have seen these charts with regular liquid food coloring, but have not found one for gel colors (preferably wilton).
Abeer Rizvi
I don't have a chart on my blog but I think Wilton has something similar to what you are looking for. It's a fondant color blending chart, using Wilton gel colors: https://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/fondant-color-blending-chart.cfm
I hope this helps!
Lorita
Hi, love your tutorial. I am just starting to use fondant and I found this tutorial very helpful. Thank you!
Abeer Rizvi
I am so happy to hear that!
Tabitha
Great tutorial! What if you are using a mold? I wanted my fondant to look like legos so I bought the little tray molds. When do I put it into the mold? How long would I leave it in? Do I keep it in mold until I need it? Help!
Abeer Rizvi
If you are using a mold, you need to push your soft fondant into the cavities and scrape off the excess with a knife.Then, remove the piece immediately and place it on a sheet of wax paper to dry and harden. If you use gum paste or 50/50, your leg pieces will dry faster. Hope this helps.
Tabitha
It does help... thanks! If I do it a few days in advance would I leave them stored at room temperature or in the freezer..
Abeer Rizvi
I don't advise anyone to keep fondant pieces in the fridge or freezer coz there is a high possibility of condensation droplets forming on the pieces, when you take them out. That becomes very messy and there's no way to fix that damage. Store the pieces at room temperature, away from moisture and humidity. I hope this helps
nicole
hello:
I absolutely love your pictures, ideas, and tutorials. Thanks for sharing, not many would! Do you have a blog? I was trying to find one of your tuts (tool box cake) and could not.
Abeer Rizvi
Hi Nicole! This is my blog: http://www.cakewhiz.com
The tool box cake tutorial you are looking for, can be found here: https://cakewhiz.com/fathers-day-tool-box-cake/
Hope it helps!
karen
You're so nice to share!
Abeer Rizvi
Thanks! I hope it helps
Kristi F
How long will the fondant last after making as long as I keep it wrapped and covered? How much fondant will one recipe make? I'm looking to cover a 2 layer 8x8 cake and have enough left over to make an Under Armor logo... And should I frost the cake with a thin layer of frosting before layering with the fondant? Sorry for all the questions, I've never done this before
Abeer
@zanet...If fondant is covered on a cake, you can keep it out for about 6 hours at room temperature. The fondant will dry up a little but the moisture from the buttercream will still keep it soft enough to be edible. If you have extra fondant that is not covering your cake, you have to wrap it up in plastic or else it will become hard and useless.
zanetA
How long does it keep being out?
cakewhiz
@Serena... Liquid food coloring won't work at all. It will make your fondant wet and sticky... not fun to work with at all! Have you considered ordering those gel colors from ebay, amazon or even online cake decorating sites? Many of them do express shipping internationally and you can probably get them in time. I am sorry I don't know any other way of coloring fondant aside from gel colors...
Serena
I am an Aussie living in Switzerland and I have never seen gel colouring, not sure what to do now as I need to make a cake this weekend for my sons fourth birthday, is there anyway you know of to thicken liquid colouring to make it work?