Whether you call it frosting, icing or just buttercream, what is the trick to making BLACK BUTTERCREAM? In this episode of Buttercream Basics, Jenn Johns will show you how to make your icing BLACK with an easy hack.
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Making black buttercream doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it’s actually really easy. I get comments ALL. THE. TIME. asking me the secret to making black buttercream. And I’ve always been bewildered by that question- what do you mean, secret? You make it the same way as you do any other color. But, upon actually paying attention to what I’m doing while I’m prepping my black buttercream, I realized I did have a secret, or hack if you will, on how to make it.
WHAT IS IT JENN?!?
- You need to use gel paste. I use Americolor Super Black. There are other brands, but this one is my go-to.
- You have to start with chocolate buttercream! You can also start with brown vanilla buttercream if you don’t want chocolate flavoring.
So there you have it, the secret is out. No more using up the entire bottle and still ending up with grey. By starting with a dark base, you don’t need to add as much coloring, which therefore means less chance for any taste to ruin your buttercream. I haven’t had any experience with color adding bitterness to buttercreams, but I thought I better mention it as it gets mentioned a lot. Let’s face it, coloring is chemicals, and those will have a high chance of affecting what you’re putting it into. But let’s move away from the chemical discussion . . . cuz you’re going to have plenty of time for that when I do *whispers* red .
One precaution in regards to black icing, when it happens, you’ll know what I’m talking about:
No, you are not sick. You ate black buttercream.
You’re welcome.
Vanilla Buttercream Recipe:
Chocolate buttercream recipe:
