Color Your Cupcakes: A Food Coloring Guide
Creating colors is part art and part science, so get ready to play. While dabbling, we discovered that frostings and food colorings vary a lot; we prefer the intensity of gel to liquid. As you mix up a batch, find your favorites among ours, then debut your own hues along the way.
Matt Armendariz, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P.
Food Coloring Swatches
Decorating Fun
FNK
Silo
Classic Blue:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/2 teaspoon royal blue gel
Blue Raspberry:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 5 drops violet gel
- 1 toothpick tip leaf green gel
Robin's Egg:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 5 drops violet gel
- 1 toothpick tip leaf green gel
Fresh Water:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/8 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 1 toothpick tip leaf green gel
Avocado:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 toothpick tip Christmas red gel
- 1 drop royal blue gel
Apple Green:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 drop green leaf gel
Herbaceous Green:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/8 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 1/8 teaspoon leaf green gel
Classic Green:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 3/4 teaspoon leaf green gel
Classic Yellow:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
Egg Yolk:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 toothpick tip Christmas red gel
Kiwi:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 drop royal blue gel
Pear:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 toothpick tip royal blue gel
Classic Violet:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/2 teaspoon violet gel
Blueberry:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 8 drops violet gel
Grape:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon violet gel
- 1/8 teaspoon Christmas red gel
Plum Purple:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/2 teaspoon royal blue gel
- 1/2 teaspoon plus 5 drops Christmas red gel
Raspberry Jam:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 3/4 teaspoon Christmas red gel
- 1/8 teaspoon violet gel
Guava:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/8 teaspoon plus 5 drops Christmas red gel
- 4 drops lemon yellow gel
Pink Grapefruit:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 2 drops Christmas red gel
- 1 drop lemon yellow gel
Classic Red:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Christmas red gel
Pale Apricot:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1 tiny toothpick tip lemon yellow gel
- 1 tiny toothpick tip Christmas red gel
- 1 even more tiny toothpick tip royal blue gel
- (the tiniest amounts are needed for this)
Tangerine:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1 small drop Christmas red gel
Orange Soda:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1/8 teaspoon Christmas red gel
Squash:
- 1 cup white frosting
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon yellow gel
- 1/8 teaspoon Christmas red gel
- 3 drops royal blue gel
Next Up
7 Ways to Customize Cupcake Frosting
Take your favorite frosting and buttercream recipes to new heights with these clever toppings and mix-ins.
Cupcake Tools and Equipment Guide
Get top tips from Food Network Kitchen, plus the low-down on chefs, tools and ingredients — and where to find them.
7 Fun, Filled Cupcakes
Take a bite out of these go-to cupcakes stuffed with surprise fillings, including cool chocolate-mint, creamy banana and more.
Top Tips for Baking Better Cupcakes
Cupcakes are easy to bake, but little tips and tricks will help you make the best batches. Here are a dozen rules of thumb — plus a bonus one — for how to bake like a pro.
How to Make and Form Pizza Dough: A Step-by-Step Guide
Pizza is a lot easier to make from scratch than you might think. Read these step-by-step instructions, then watch our how-to video.
50 Quick Breads
Think beyond banana bread — Food Network Magazine has dozens of sweet and savory ideas.
50 Bar Cookies
Bake for a crowd: We came up with dozens of new one-pan treats.
Mix & Match: Biscuits
Bake something new for your breadbasket.
Mix-and-Match Quick Bread
Create your perfect loaf of quick bread: This customizable recipe leads to thousands of possibilities!
The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate for Baking (and Beyond)
Chocolate is available for purchase in dizzying variety: from bitter to sweet, white to dark, powders to chips, bars to bricks. To keep your head from spinning, here's a breakdown of what you'll encounter in the baking aisle.
More from:
