Color
is as basic to your decorating as the icing and the cake. Choosing appropriate
colors for your cake will help you capture just the mood you want for the
occasion.
When planning your cake, think about color. Gather inspiration
from the theme of your celebration. The icing colors you choose will carry
that theme and personalize your decorating. Look around, notice everyday
objects – from a garden in bloom, to the clothes people wear. Which
colors appeal to you? Use your favorite colors in your decorating. Don't
be afraid to try something different. Have fun using rich, bright colors
or different color combinations. Begin by making a monochromatic cake, decorated
all in white or in a single, pale color. Try using color decorations in
contrast to an all-white cake background. Decorate using all pastels or
all primary colors. Experimenting with color will help you decide which
colors work to make your cake designs spectacular.
Mixing Color In Icing
Begin
with white icing and use concentrated icing color which will not affect
your icing consistency. Using standard food colors can thin down your icing
and affect your ability to pipe certain decorations. If you are tinting
icing dark brown or black, begin with chocolate icing – your icing
will not have the aftertaste that large amounts of these icing colors may
produce. If you are tinting a large area red, use No-Taste Red.
Dip a toothpick into the color, then swirl it into the icing. Add color
a little at a time until you achieve the shade you desire. Always use a
new toothpick each time you add color; you want to avoid getting icing into
your jar of color to make it last longer. Blend the icing well with a spatula.
Consider the type of icing you are using when mixing color. Icing colors
intensify or darken in buttercream icing about 1-2 hours after mixing. Royal
icing requires more color than buttercream icing to achieve the same color
intensity.
Always mix enough of any one icing color for your entire cake. For example,
if you are going to decorate a cake with pink flowers and borders, color
enough icing for both. It is difficult to duplicate an exact shade of any
color, an important fact if you want to keep color consistent on the cake.
Bag Striping Effects
You
can easily pipe two-tone decorations just by adding a different color
inside the bag before you put in your tinted icing. This way, you can
pipe flowers with natural light and dark tones or a rainbow-colored clown
suit to brighten up the party.
Brush Striping
Produces more intense multiple colors because it is done with straight
icing color brushed into the bag. Apply one or more stripes of icing color
with a decorating brush, then fill the bag with white or pastel-colored
icing. As the icing is squeezed past the color, decorations will come out striped.
Spatula Striping
Produces two-tone and realistic pastel tones in flowers and figure piping.
It is done with pastel-colored icing, striped inside the decorating bag
with a spatula. After striping, fill the bag with white icing or another
shade of the same color as the striping. Squeeze out decorations with
soft contrasts.