Bluegoat Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I am making a birthday cake for my daughter this weekend in the shape of a TARDIS. I am a bit unsure though what I need to use to get that sort of saturated blue for the iceing. I don't want fondant, none of us likes it, so I will be colouring buttercream icing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I have both royal blue and navy blue icing colors and I think either would get pretty close. Or a blend of both. Make it a day in advance of when you want to use it and color it and check on it every few hours- it gets darker as it sits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 My two cents: Frosting that dark can start to taste terrible because of the amount of coloring. Iiwm, I'd use fondant for looks then take if off for serving and have a piping bag of frosting to add frosting to each piece. (If the amount of frosting under the fondant isn't enough.) Again, just my two cents! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Hmm, yes, I have had nasty tasting dark frosting. I was hoping there might be some colour I could use that would taste ok. I don't really mind if its somewhat lighter than the real thing, but if I use the food colouring I have I know it will look pastel, which is just not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I just saw a Youtube video where a guy used molding chocolate (colored blue with gel colors) for the "icing" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Marshmallow fondant is tasty but not quite as easy to work with as regular fondant. If you do use buttercream, you can do a base coat of white or light blue and then just do a thin coat of blue over it. Edited January 12, 2017 by Annie G 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 When I made a Tardis cake I settled on Marshmallow Fondant over buttercream to get the color right. We didn't EAT the Fondant lol I don't really eat icing of any kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) my dd is currently into a French ?buttercream? frosting (*without* corn syrup recipe). I don't know if it will take a more intense color or not. use the paste food coloring you can buy in craft or restaurant quality supply stores. eta: you could do a marzipan that would take an intense blue. roll it into a sheet and place it over the tardis (frosted with buttercream and chilled first) Edited January 12, 2017 by gardenmom5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Hmmm... I've got pretty bright colours with gel colouring and no bad taste. I was under the impression that the biggest offenders of gross tasting food colouring are red and black. I've seen 'no taste' red to try to combat that. Maybe make a small batch in the colour you like and see if it tastes off. You use a pin head, or the tip of knife, to add gel colouring so you add very, very little for a good amount of colouring. I'm sure there is a nice bright blue you can find. I personally would test run it. I would be more concerned with the texture of buttercream vs fondant...but that would be really not very concerned. I also don't like fondant and would be fine with buttercream. I might try the marshmallow fondant, though. I've been dying to try that for a while now. But I could also live without the smooth sides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 my dd is currently into a French ?buttercream? frosting (*without* corn syrup recipe). I don't know if it will take a more intense color or not. use the paste food coloring you can buy in craft or restaurant quality supply stores. eta: you could do a marzipan that would take an intense blue. roll it into a sheet and place it over the tardis (frosted with buttercream and chilled first) We have used the gel/paste coloring you get in Michael's or AC Moore. It doesn't dilute the frosting the way a liquid color would. Frosting is ordinary stuff from a can in the cake mix aisle, I've used just about every color, including bright blue. No taste that anyone noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Use Gel/Past food coloring-- NOT the liquid from the grocery store! My favorite brand is AmeriColor, but Wilton is fine too. Previous poster was correct-- Royal Blue with a touch of Navy. I made one a few years ago using marshmallow fondant-- easy to make the windows/doors as fondant sticks to itself with a tiny touch of water for 'glue' (I cut using pizza wheel or Exact-o knife). If you are stacking square cakes to make a tower make sure to use a dowel rod for support (pushed through from top to bottom and then cut even with top before icing)... if you don't it has a good chance of tipping over. If it feels a bit wobbly then after every 2 layers of cake add a piece of cardboard cut to size of cake -- 2 layers cake/cardboard/2 layers of cake/cardboard/2 layers of cake... this also makes it easy to serve in 'normal portions'. You can add a hole to the center of the cardboards for the dowel to go through... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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