I have received so many questions lately about working with fondant. So, this week I am adding another tutorial to the mix. Decorating cakes with fondant gives such versatility and it is one of my favorite mediums to use. But, at some point, you will need to color fondant to match your decoration. I wish they sold every color in-store, but they don’t.  Plus, it can get quite costly.

How to Color Fondant

Coloring fondant is a lot of fun.  Picture playing with play dough and mixing all the colors together.  It’s the same with fondant.  When it comes to coloring fondant the same rule applies as mixing paint (for a painting that is).

Of course, lighter colors are much easier to color than red, brown, blue or black. Can you make your life easier using the pre-colored/ready-made fondant?  Sure…, but you need to color fondant to match a particular color scheme.  If you choose to buy pre-colored fondant, I suggest harder colors such as: red, blue, black or even brown. I do have a delicious brown chocolate fondant recipe you can use for brown.

What Type of Fondant can be Colored? + Tips for Coloring Fondant

Any type of fondant can be colored, which includes ready-made/pre-made fondant or even homemade marshmallow fondant. Is there a particular trick to this? Not really? However, these tips will make it much easier. How can you say that? Because I too have had issues working with fondant.  Here are a few tips…

Tip#1: When coloring marshmallow fondant, I suggest adding the color before the powdered sugar, it colors better that way.

Tip#2: Some will suggest using pre-colored fondant to achieve you’re required, this is not always the case.  You will, however, have white fondant on hand.  When using white fondant as the base it usually takes more gel color and finesse.

Tip#3: Only add a small amount of color at a time.

Tip#4: Adding too much gel color will make the fondant sticky, if this happens, add some powdered sugar.  For more fondant tips see them here.

Tip#5: To make colors darker add a touch of black.

Tip#6: To make black fondant start with brown fondant and then add black color gel.

Tip#7: To make red fondant use brown fondant and Wilton no taste red or magenta and yellow.

Tip#8: Let the fondant sit for a few hours or overnight to darken.

So What is the Best Way to Color Fondant? Gel Paste Colors versus Liquid Colors

The best way to color fondant is to use gel food coloring. Americolor and Wilton’s colors work best, but there are others such as Chefmaster that are just as good.

Gel food colors are more concentrated, therefore, adding a small amount at a time works best. A little bit goes a long way.  Colors such as brown, black, or red may require more than one ounce of gel paste colors. So be prepared for that. Also, be mindful of the taste or aftertaste. Gel colors are cheaper and come in a variety of colors.  Mix them together to get any color of your choice.

Liquid color is not a good choice to color fondant because it will cause it to become sticky. Likewise, adding too much gel color can makes the fondant sticky as well.

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Steps for coloring fondant

• Add some shortening to a mat and fondant.
• Then, knead a small amount of fondant until it becomes pliable.
• Then use a toothpick to add the gel color a little at a time. 
• While you are kneading now and again pull the fondant to see how the color is incorporating.  Do not overdo this or you will get a lot of bubbles, just enough because you do not want streaks.
• Allow the fondant to rest until you achieve the desired shade. Just remember as the fondant sits the color will darken.

Use Pre-colored Fondant

• A second method is using pre-colored fondant to achieve the colors.  The best way to know the outcome is to use the color wheel.  Satin Ice also had a great chart.
• In this example, I created an ombre pink. Start with a darker pink then add white.
• This will produce a lighter pink.
• Use the second shade of pink to color white fondant to produce a lighter shade of pink.
• You should have these three shades of pink.

That’s it for today until next time.  Happy caking.