How to Add Colour to Fondant and Marzipan Icing
Using Gel, Powdered and Liquid Food Colourings in Cake Decorating
Jul 27, 2009
Most fondant comes in shades of white or ivory; some cake decorating stores also sell pre-coloured batches labelled “flesh tint” or “rose pink”. However, most cake decorators prefer to create their own colours, allowing for greater design control. Marzipan (almond paste) is naturally a pale yellow and is traditionally coloured by hand to make moulded figures, flowers and fruit.
Types of Food Colouring Suitable for Fondant and Marzipan
The kind of food colouring found at the supermarket in thin liquid form can be used to colour fondant at a pinch; but it is not ideal. The colours tend to be weak – red in particular is notorious for producing pink icing even when used liberally – and the range of colours is small. Because the colouring is runny, adding too much may also change the consistency of the fondant. Gel colouring is a better choice, with a wider range of colours. It is easy to use and very concentrated.
The other option is powdered colouring, which can be used in several different ways. The powder can be kneaded directly into the fondant for pastel colours, mixed with a small amount of vodka to create vivid shades, or painted or dusted onto the surface of the fondant after icing the cake.
Both gel and powdered colourings are fairly pricey but will last indefinitely.
How to Add Colouring to Fondant or Marzipan
“Less is more” is the most important thing to remember when tinting fondant. To prevent overcolouring, which wastes expensive fondant, start by taking tiny amounts of colour by dipping the end of a toothpick into the powder or gel. Add this colour not to the main mass of fondant but to a small knob of icing about the size of a walnut. Once the colour has been thoroughly mixed in, the small lump can be mixed into the rest of the icing. This helps prevent streaks of unmixed gel or powder in the final result, and also protects against overtinting. If the small lump of fondant is too dark, add only part of the lump to the fondant; if, when mixed in, the fondant is too pale, break off another small lump and add more colour to that before kneading it back in.
If you want to wet the powder before adding it, mix it with a very small amount of vodka or other clear alcohol.
How to Marble Fondant
Marbled icing is a popular look. It is not achieved simply by partially mixing the colouring into the icing. Instead, the fondant is divided in half and the colouring is added to one half using the method above. The two colours are then combined. Some like to form two sausages out of the different colours, twist them around each other and then form the twist into a spiral before rolling it out. This ensures a good mix of colours. Others simply break the fondant into several small pieces and smoosh them together into a ball. If the rolled-out fondant looks too precise and/or insufficiently marbled, fold it into quarters and re-roll. Remember, though, that too much rolling will eventually mix the colours completely and destroy the marbled effect.
How to Dust Powdered Colouring On Fondant
Using a clean, perfectly dry soft-bristled paintbrush, brush a tiny amount of powder over the surface of the fondant. Any moisture on the brush will react with the powder and create a streak of vivid colour. Dusting powder can give a very gentle, subtle effect: powders come not only in colours but in metallics and clear glisteny shades. The dusting technique is best performed on perfectly smooth fondant, as the powder will show up cracks or imperfections on the surface.
An alternative to dusting is to sift the powder onto the cake using an extremely fine sieve. This works well for metallics and glittery powders: a simple fondant-iced cupcake decorated with an icing rose gains quick and easy pizzazz with just a touch of sparkly gold floating over the surface.
How to Paint on Fondant Using Powdered Colouring
Adding a tiny amount of vodka to powdered colouring turns it into a brilliantly-coloured liquid. Cake decorators sometimes use a fine-tipped brush or toothpink to paint the liquid directly onto the cake. This is a quick way to add colour or writing to a cake for those uneasy with using a piping bag: however, if the wrong colours are chosen the result can look a little like someone used a felt-tip marker to draw on the icing. Painting is perhaps best used to add accents to already-coloured surfaces – for example, painting stripes on a marzipan tiger.
Tips for Colouring Fondant and Marzipan
- For Caucasian flesh tints use peach rather than pink
- Black food colouring smells quite strong – some brands have a liquorice-like smell. If the smell makes you feel sick, consider using a very dark brown or blue food colouring instead.
- Cocoa powder can be used to colour fondant brown. Use it in the same way as powdered colour, but remember cocoa isn’t as concentrated
- Other types of icing such as royal icing, gumpaste and buttercream can be coloured using similar techniques.
- Do not paint on icing with liquid food colouring. It tends to be water-based rather than alcohol-based and may make tbleed at the edges or make the fondant soggy.
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