For making your own icing do you prefer powder or dye?

[H.C. Heartland]

I have found out the color or 'theme' of the wedding which I'm baking a cake for: light green. I am wondering what would be the best way to make this color for my cake. I can get my hands on both powder or dye and I was looking for suggestions on which type might work better in a hot climate.

 

[Tina Nord]

If you are going for a light green color, then I think you would be ok if you just wanted to use liquid dye. The darker colored frostings do better with powder or gel coloring as you have to use more dye and would not want your frosting to get runny.

 

[H.C. Heartland]

If you are going for a light green color, then I think you would be ok if you just wanted to use liquid dye. The darker colored frostings do better with powder or gel coloring as you have to use more dye and would not want your frosting to get runny.

Thank you! that really helps a lot. I need the frosting to be stiffer because it will be in warmer temperatures and decorated so it needs to stand nicely.

 

[tangela]

I would go with the dye, because a part of me worries that if you have the powder one and it gets wet for some reason before you can make the cake it would ruin it. Dyes are always good, plus then you can decide just how light you want the color to be.

 

[torreyy]

I have found out the color or 'theme' of the wedding which I'm baking a cake for: light green. I am wondering what would be the best way to make this color for my cake. I can get my hands on both powder or dye and I was looking for suggestions on which type might work better in a hot climate.

Dye. Although the climate should not really affect either method. I just prefer dye myself.

 

[NThomas]

I like the gel coloring they take better and you do not have to use alot. The powder can be tricky and sometimes gives you uneven clumps.

 

[H.C. Heartland]

I just wanted to update what I ended up doing: I used a buttercream frosting recipe that called for shortening and I used margarine. This gave it a yellowish color. Then I added cocoa powder (pure) to the part of the batch I set aside for piping. this made the words and decorations dark chocolate. The taste was delicious! So I would highly recommend it when cake decorating.

 

[Trellum]

I always use dye because I just like to add a dash of color to the icing, I don't like my cakes to have a strong color.. delicate is always better I love ''pastel'' tones best. They're so classy and nice.

 

[barkingsquirrel]

I agree, Trellum! The lighter, the better and dye is the best choice for the job. Also, just the idea of the word cake, evokes a delicate feeling. A lighter color fits the "feel" of the product and the occasion.

 

[confettine]

I just wanted to update what I ended up doing: I used a buttercream frosting recipe that called for shortening and I used margarine. This gave it a yellowish color. Then I added cocoa powder (pure) to the part of the batch I set aside for piping. this made the words and decorations dark chocolate. The taste was delicious! So I would highly recommend it when cake decorating.

I've done something like this before! And it's amazing just how yummy a chocolate icing looks anyway. I usually use dye otherwise (it's what I can get), though this provides pastel-like colors. MMmmm chocolate frosting...

 

[ThatNewMommy]

I just wanted to update what I ended up doing: I used a buttercream frosting recipe that called for shortening and I used margarine. This gave it a yellowish color. Then I added cocoa powder (pure) to the part of the batch I set aside for piping. this made the words and decorations dark chocolate. The taste was delicious! So I would highly recommend it when cake decorating.

That sounds awesome.
For others that still want opinions, I would use dye/gel or, as someone said, a SMALL amount of liquid. For some reason I don't like the powdered ones at all.

 

[DancingLady]

I have always used liquid. I feel that liquid mixes best because it is already fully dissolved. You don't have to worry about a small chunk of powder not mixing in evenly.

 

[Bakers12]

I generally just use a liquid food coloring. It's easier to work with. I don't like how some of the powders make the frosting a little grainy.

 

[Diane Lane]

I've never used powders, and didn't realize they were supposed to be best for darker colors. That's probably because I've never made darker colored frosting. Like @Trellum, I lean toward the pastel side when baking. I'll have to look into the powders though, because I can remember one time when I was trying to make brighter colored frosting for a Spring party, I had difficulty getting the color right using dye.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

For making my own icing I always use dye instead of powder coloring because I can make better the shade of color that I really want for my icings.