Food coloring for fondant, buttercream and dough

Food coloring as gel, powder and liquid

With food coloring, you can tint dough, icing, buttercream, marzipan or fondant, for soft pastels as well as bold accents on cakes, cookies and cupcakes. The colors come in different forms, each suited to different uses.

Which food coloring to use for what

Gel colors are highly concentrated and color fondant, royal icing and buttercream intensely and evenly. Powder colors can be kneaded in, mixed with liquid or brushed on dry. Liquid colors stir in quickly and suit doughs and thin icing. Larger amounts, however, make fondant or royal icing too soft. For chocolate and high-fat mixtures, you need oil-based colors, because water-based colors can cause chocolate to seize. Whether a color is suitable for airbrushing and which ingredients it contains is listed with each product.

• Gel colors for intense shades in fondant and buttercream
• Powder colors for mixing or dry application
• Liquid colors for dough and icing
• Colors for themed cakes, cookies and cupcakes

Tip: Add gel color with a toothpick and tint slightly lighter than you want. Many colors deepen in buttercream and fondant after a while.