My 3 secrets for Beautifully Dark and DELICIOUS Cakes (no bitter Taste!) Plus, The One Mistake To Avoid When Making A Drip Cake

If you’re anything like me, no matter how cute the theme or design, you will avoid dark colored icing like the PLAGUE! I mean, what is the point of a beautiful cake if it tastes…. well…gross. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a very beautiful cake just to be repelled by a disgusting and bitter taste. Cake is supposed to be fun, yet sweet and delicious. The problem is most cake decorators are not too concerned about a bitter tasting frosting if the customer requests a commonly bitter color. They assume that EVERYONE knows to avoid colors like red, purple, and black when ordering a cake… if they desire anything edible. NOT ME! I feel the flavor is just as important if (arguably) not MORE important than the appearance itself, unless it’s a, let’s say, wedding cake. Even then, I’d have to disagree, because I am a HUUUGE foodie and wedding cakes are too expensive not to be delicious! So, continue reading If you want to know my 3 secrets for creating beautifully dark and delicious cakes WITHOUT the bitter taste!

# 1 USE NO TASTE RED FOOD COLORING!

I will scream this one loud for the ones in the back because this tip is just too simple of a fix for bitter red frosting! I can’t for the life of me understand in this day in age why anyone would opt for anything else! You still get a beautiful red hue with ZERO bitter taste. If you can’t find it in your local cake or hobby store, you can purchase it on amazon like the one I have here. I always make sure to purchase no-taste red food coloring and keep it on hand, because, why not!?

#2 Mix Your own Purple.

Okay so this one might require a wee bit of color theory, but it’s very basic, I promise! All you will do is take that no-taste red food coloring as mentioned above and blue food coloring and mix your own purple colors. I DO NOT purchase purple food coloring as this color also carries a bitter taste. Just last week I shared how to decorate The Little Mermaid cake, and I mixed my own purple frosting on that one as well. Now, if you cannot achieve a darker color purple and your customer just MUST have it, I would simply inform them of the issue (it is also wise to inform them of this in your cake contract) and if they don’t have a problem with it, go for it!

#3 BUY BLACK! Or Use Fondant

Okay, I may be cheating here but there is a little secret in the cake world. Most bakers and cake decorators DO NOT like making black frosting, I am definitely one. While I do absolutely looove baking my cakes and making all my icings from scratch, some things are just better left alone, and for me, making black frosting is one of them. I haven’t yet figured out how to blend colors together to achieve the deep, dark, beautiful black color icing that so many people love. I haven’t found any black food coloring that claims to have no taste either, so my solution? Buy black frosting! However, please hear me when I say I Cannot speak for ALL black frostings for purchase on the market, but the one I have here is the TRUTH! You would think the cake would be disgusting by the look of it, but it is SO delicious. Why? Because there is ZERO bitterness in this icing. I have only found this big tub on Amazon, but you can freeze or refrigerate this frosting in batches for later cake orders. I will let you know that when you run the icing under water or smear it on a light surface it will look purple, but this is to be expected as it takes many colors to create black, this is noticeable at all otherwise. The only alternative I have, is to use fondant, as most people do not eat it anyway. If you are opposed to fondant, you seriously must try the one I suggested.

Now! The ONE (surprising) mistake to avoid when making a drip cake!

If you notice the drip on the above cake, you will notice it is not vibrant, and too runny. You DO NOT want to RUSH this process, allow the cake drip to cool down enough so you feel zero warmth. I made the mistake of rushing this time and boy did I regret it. So make sure you take your time and allow your ganache to COOL DOWN!

As you can see, the photo I shared below of a “Wreck it Ralph”: Vanellope cake I did a while ago has a much cleaner drip and this is because I allowed my drip to cool? I used gel food coloring in this photo as well. You may have heard bakers and cake decorators suggest avoiding gel food coloring and used oil based. This is because they feel oil and water do not mix and gel food color is water based, but I feel ganache is different because of the water in the heavy cream, so, in this case I will say it’s safe to break the rules. Maybe some completely disagree, does using water-based gel food color in ganache work for you? If you try it out, let me know how it worked for you. Next week I will be sharing mistakes to avoid when making drip cakes, so be sure to check back if you want more in depth tips to creating the perfect drip.

So, there you have it My 3 secrets for beautifully dark and delicious cakes with NO BITTER TASTE, plus, the one mistake to avoid when making a drip cake. So, if you know any cake decorators be sure to send them this list! Do any of you use these “secrets” already? How do you achieve beautiful dark and delicious colors? I would love to hear what you have to say in the comments!

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