Have you ever seen a cake in a magazine that you absolutely loved and decided to try to make yourself? Upon doing so, did you realize that you could not come close to creating the colors you needed for the icing and/or frosting? It is undoubtedly frustrating to put so much work into a baking project, only to realize that your final product will not look the way you wanted it to, simply because you cannot seem to create the correct frosting and icing colors. There is a simple, and reasonably inexpensive solution to this problem!
Most individuals who have not previously delved into the world of cake, cookie, and cupcake decorating, probably only think of one thing when the subject of food coloring comes up. The little red and white box containing four small and bulbous containers of food coloring, each with a color coded, long, pointy cap. This type of food coloring is sold at just about every grocery store in the country, on the baking aisle. However, one who is attempting to use this brand of food coloring to create vibrant and bright colors in their frostings and icings, will likely become quite disappointed when they realize that they will only create pastels.
In order to create the bright and vibrant colors of icings and frostings that are typically shown in photos of baking projects in magazines, you will need to bypass the grocery store when setting out to purchase food coloring. Instead, head to your local arts and crafts shop, such as Michael’s, or Ben Franklin’s. If these are not close to home, you can typically find the icing colors that you need at any party store that carries cake decorating supplies, such as Party City. You can even find what you need at Wal-Mart, which has a cake decorating aisle in it’s craft section (back by the bolts of fabric).
Once you have determined which store located near you carries and sells cake decorating supplies, you will be looking for Wilton Icing Colors. Wilton Icing Colors are sold in one ounce jars, in a wide variety of colors. Wilton Icing Colors are even sold in boxed sets of four colors that coordinate with a particular theme, such as Barbie, or Winnie the Pooh. In addition, you can sometimes find boxed sets of Wilton Icing Colors containing more than four colors, sold as sort of a “starter set”. Keep in mind though, that the jars contained within the boxed sets are the half ounce size.
The one ounce jars of Wilton Icing Colors typically cost about $1.25, depending on where you buy them. I have seen them cost nearly $2 per jar, but usually, they are priced under $1.60 each.
Wilton Icing Colors are different from the liquid colors sold in the “dropper” type bottles at the grocery store in more ways than one. Not only do they create much brighter, more vibrant colored icings and frostings, but they are also of a gel consistency. When mixing these colors into your icings and frostings, use a toothpick or the end of a butter knife to grab just a small dab of the coloring gel. It doesn’t take much of the Wilton Icing Colors to obtain deep frosting color, so you will want to use just a bit at a time until you have achieved the desired shade you want. Creating bright, beautiful icings and frostings is a snap with Wilton Icing Colors.
