Concentrated gel colours are fabulous for creating vibrant colours in a variety of ingredients, including sugarpaste, modelling paste, buttercream, royal icing and even batter for sponge cakes (perfect for those rainbow sponge cakes!). Colouring sugarpaste is something that cake decorators struggle with at first, but never fear, Julie is on hand to show you how to achieve perfection everytime using the Rainbow Dust and Colour Splash ProGel ranges...
How to colour white sugarpaste
As the Rainbow Dust and Colour Splash gel colours are so concentrated, you only need to add a small amount of gel to achieve the desired shade, meaning it doesn’t normally affect the consistency of your sugarpaste. If you add a lot of food colouring, it can sometimes cause the paste to become a little sticky, but dusting your hands with corn flour whilst handling it can help to reduce this, as can leaving the paste to rest for a little while (wrap in plastic to stop the paste drying out).
It is best to start with a very small amount of gel colour, mix thoroughly, then add a little more if the shade achieved is not deep enough.
When colouring sugarpaste, you will need to check to make sure the colour has been mixed through fully (unless you are aiming for a marbled effect). To do this, cut the coloured paste in half with a sharp knife and check for any white marbling on the cut edges. If you can still see white (or pale) patches in the paste, you need to continue kneading the paste. Check again and repeat until the cut edge of the paste is a consistent colour.
When using the red gel colour, if you add it straight to white paste (or other mediums), it will colour as varying shades of pink. To achieve a deep red shade, it is easier to colour with orange gel colour first, and then add the red gel colour.
If you colour paste the day before needed, the colour may deepen overnight, so please bear this in mind when using.
To achieve paler shades, just reduce the amount of gel colouring that you add, remember it is easier to add more if the colour is too pale.
How to colour buttercream, royal icing and batters
For ‘wet’ mediums, such as buttercream, royal icing or cake batter, mix the colour through thoroughly, making sure to scrape the edges of the bowl (and back of the spoon), as the gel colour can cling to these. The vibrant shades achieved by the gel colours, make rainbow sponges so easy to make. Simply split your batter into smaller bowls and add a different colour to each. After baking, the outside edge will have a brown-ish colour, but once you cut into the cake, the fabulous colours will be revealed.
How to create edible paint
You can even create ‘edible paint’ with these gel colours, by simply mixing with a little clear alcohol (such as vodka). The more you dilute the gel colour, the paler the colour will be. You can also mix colours together to create different shades, such as adding a little yellow, to achieve a different shade of green.
These concentrated gel colours are my ‘go to’ for all my colouring needs, as they are so versatile and easy to use.
Want to practice colouring sugarpaste? You can purchase the Rainbow Dust and Colour Splash ProGels and sugarpaste by visiting our store here.
If you colour paste the day before needed, the colour may deepen overnight, so please bear this in
mind when using.
To achieve paler shades, just reduce the amount of gel colouring that you add, remember it is easier
to add more if the colour is too pale.
For ‘wet’ mediums, such as buttercream, royal icing or cake batter, mix the colour through
thoroughly, making sure to scrape the edges of the bowl (and back of the spoon), as the gel colour
can cling to these. The vibrant shades achieved by the gel colours, make rainbow sponges so easy to
make. Simply split your batter into smaller bowls and add a different colour to each. After baking,
the outside edge will have a brown-ish colour, but once you cut into the cake, the fabulous colours
will be revealed
You can even create ‘edible paint’ with these gel colours, by simply mixing with a little clear alcohol
(such as vodka). The more you dilute the gel colour, the paler the colour will be. You can also mix
colours together to create different shades, such as adding a little yellow, to achieve a different
shade of green.
These concentrated gel colours are my ‘go to’ for all my colouring needs, as they are so versatile and
easy to use.
