What colors make black frosting?

With cocoa powder and black food gel, this recipe is super easy. But if you don't have black food gel, there's a solution. Mix 3 parts blue food gel with 2.5 parts red and 1 part green. Do this in a separate bowl to create your desired shade before adding it to your larger mixing bowl.

Does black buttercream darken? And how long does it take?

I highly recommend making this recipe about 8 hours before you need the frosting to turn black. Doing this an evening before will really help make the frosting darken. If you don't have that much time, read the tip below.

How do you make black buttercream in the microwave?

When you microwave frosting that has been dyed with food gel, the heat darkens your colors. This is a great hack so you don't have to use tons of food gel. Instead, heat a small amount of buttercream (about 1/4 cup) at a time. This simple step will shorten the process for creating a vibrant, dark shade. Also, because you are using heat to make the frosting instead of dumping tons of food gel into it, this black buttercream will not stain your teeth.

Is black buttercream bitter?

This buttercream is delicious, chocolatey, and far from bitter! People who notice a bitterness in their black frosting may have added too much food gel and are tasting that.

Why is my buttercream grey?

If your frosting isn't black yet, give it more time to deepen in color. To speed up the process, heat small amounts in the microwave - that will make it so much darker!

Easy Black Buttercream with Cocoa Powder

A black velvet cupcake in a white wrapper, sitting on a white, airy linen cloth.

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5 from 2 reviews

With black cocoa powder and a bit of black gel food coloring, it's easy to make a delicious black buttercream that doesn't stain your teeth!

Author: Susan Gravatt
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: About 6 cups 1x
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

2 and 1/2 sticks (283 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (110 grams) black cocoa powder
2/3 cup (60 grams) natural cocoa powder
5 cups (650 grams) powdered sugar
1/3 cup (75 grams) heavy cream, room temperature
1 T vanilla extract
About 6 drops of black food gel
Pinch of salt (more or less to taste)

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Instructions

Combine your unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, both cocoa powders, and salt. Mix on a low speed for about 1 minute before increasing to medium-high speed for 2-3 more minutes. Stop your mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl toward the center so everything combines evenly.
Add your food dye before mixing on medium speed for another 1-2 minutes. Frosting's color will deepen to a light black, almost charcoal, color.
To further darken buttercream, take approximately 1/4 cup (or 50 grams) at a time of your frosting. Heat it in a microwavable bowl for five seconds on medium power. Add this melted frosting back into your main bowl and turn the mixer on again to combine. Continue to heat small amounts of frosting at a time and add it back to your bowl until you’ve achieved a deep black color. I do this twice and then let it rest overnight on my counter, at room temperature.
Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream or milk to your frosting right before you use it to help loosen and give it a smooth, spreadable texture. Put frosting into piping bag fitted with tip of choice and decorate!

Notes

Heating the frosting in small increments activates the black food gel and deepens the color. Read the blog post above the recipe card for more tips on how to intensify the shade of your frosting using both time and heat - they’ll help your frosting become a nice, dark shade.
When you're ready to use the frosting, it will likely feel very thick. Cocoa is a drying agent, and so your buttercream will almost certainly need more moisture. Pour in a few tablespoons of heavy cream or milk at a time, whipping your frosting by hand, until it has a spreadable consistency. Then add it to your piping bag!
This recipe creates about six cups of frosting, which comfortably fills and coats a three-layer, six-inch cake. Reduce or increase as needed.

The nutritional values are approximate and can vary depending on the specific brands and measurements used. Below is the nutritional analysis for the black buttercream frosting, which makes roughly 12 servings.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Calories: 448 kcal
Sugar: 54.5 g
Sodium: 16 mg
Fat: 23.7 g
Saturated Fat: 14.8 g
Unsaturated Fat: 8.8 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 61.8 g
Fiber: 3.9 g
Protein: 2.3 g
Cholesterol: 67.8 mg

Find it online: https://susanbringsdessert.com/black-buttercream-recipe/