What Colors Make Purple Icing? (Frosting Color)


What Colors Make Purple Icing

So, what colors make purple icing? To get purple icing color, you will need at least red and blue icing or coloring. You may want to add small amounts of other colors (e.g. brown) or plain icing, to lighten, darken or change the undertone.

However, purple color icing can be made in several ways. Some brands produce ready-made purple icing. You can also mix ready-made red and blue icing shades or create a custom purple color for your icing using red and blue coloring in a plain white or chocolate icing base.

Purple icing can be a fun base color for a children’s cake, or a rich and tempting color for a more sophisticated cake decoration.

Whatever your baking project may be, our article below can tell you more about how to buy, make and use purple icing.

What color is purple icing?

‘Purple’ is a descriptive name for a range of colors produced by mixing blue and red.

The color purple has a long association with royalty and power, with Tyrian purple dye being historically so costly that only the top echelons of society could afford to buy it.

If you are aiming to produce an exact shade of purple icing, use a color chart to identify your intended end color, and be ready to experiment with different color combinations to reach it.

Read also: What Colors Make Purple Food Coloring? (Best Tips!)

Can I buy purple icing?

Yes, many stores and online shops sell ready-made purple icing. The also sell ready-mixed purple food coloring which you can add to icing at home.

If a purple color is not available, you may be able to buy separate red and blue ingredients.

How can I make purple icing?

There will be a range of different reds (scarlet, crimson, cherry etc..) and blues (royal blue, sky blue, navy blue etc..) which you can start with. Different starting shades and varying proportions of red and blue will produce different final results.

For a deeper purple color and chocolatey flavor, you can sometimes achieve a better result, and use less food coloring, if you begin with a chocolate icing base rather than plain.

To create purple chocolate icing, gradually add small amounts of red and blue icing or coloring to chocolate icing until it reaches a purple color. If your starting chocolate icing is very dark, you can make it lighter by adding plain white icing.

Remember that the precise color of an icing usually deepens over 24 hours as it dries.

If you want a specific color result for a special occasion cake, it’s best to do a practice run of your recipe in advance, including icing.

You can then be sure of achieving the shade you want in the final result.

When working with colored icing, be aware that lemon juice (and other acids) can react with food colors. For example, violet colors can turn more blue, or brown colors more green.

If you’re making a purple citrus icing, trial your color in a small batch first in case the result is not what you want.

HOW TO MAKE COLOR VIOLET ON ICING DIY >> Check out the video below:

Can I make natural purple icing without artificial ingredients?

Yes, there are many natural food colorings available online or in stores as well as artificial colors. You can test different brands to produce the right purple color icing.

Purple coloring can be obtained from a range of natural sources including blackcurrants, blueberries or purple sweet potato.

Red coloring sources include beetroot, cherries, red berries, and red cabbage. Blue color sources include blue butterfly pea or blue spirulina.

There are a number of brands selling plant-sourced food coloring in liquid or powder form (e.g. Color Garden). These can be found both online or in supermarkets.

Suncore Foods also sell a range of different natural coloring powders derived from fruit and vegetable sources.

Read also: What Do You Get When You Mix Red And Blue? (3 Colors of Light)

Does purple icing have a flavour?

The taste of purple icing will depend on the source of the coloring and what concentration of color was used.

For example, natural blackcurrant juice could give purple icing with a flavor of blackcurrants. Some people find that certain artificial food colors have a distinct chemical aftertaste.

A bottle of food coloring that describes itself as ‘no-taste’ or ‘flavor-free’, should not impart any flavor to the icing.

It is well established that certain red food coloring can be bitter when used in high concentrations.

If you’re aiming to produce an intense purple icing by mixing lots of blue and red coloring, you may want to use a no-taste red color. 

Read also:  What Do You Get When You Mix Red And Purple? (Best Tips)

Is purple icing safe to eat?

Yes, purple icing is as safe to eat as any other color, whether you choose to buy artificial food colors or naturally derived colors.

Remember never to use any coloring, paint, glitter or other decorations in your icing that aren’t specifically produced as food items and explicitly marked as being edible.

Whether purple or any other color, non-food colors and decorations may be toxic.

Can any icing type be purple?

Yes, while you may not be able to buy ready-made versions of all icing types when you want them, you can still mix your own purple shade of all icing types.

From royal icing, to buttercream, or glacé icing and fondant, all can be colored purple.

Some physical forms of food coloring, (e.g. liquid, powder, gel or spray) will work better with specific consistencies of icing.

Experimenting with different options and methods is often the best way to find your ideal purple icing color and consistency.

When would I use purple icing?

Depending on shade and other decoration, purple can be an equally good icing choice for a fun children’s cake with a cartoon theme, or for a rich, fruity-looking cake for everyone.

A deep purple color can be used to add detail or shading to a cake with a different base color of icing. Purple is a common choice for the color of icing fruits (e.g. grapes) or flowers (e.g. roses) to decorate cakes.

Is purple icing vegan?

You can choose plant-based coloring options which do not contain animal products if you wish to produce a vegan-friendly purple icing.

Check for a vegan symbol on the packaging of any ready-made colors or icing, indicating that the product contains no animal products.

Be aware that some red food colors are made from cochineal, derived from beetles. Nothing containing cochineal is suitable for vegans.

A final word…

We hope you enjoyed our guide to purple icing and can now put our hints and tips into action on your next baking project for a super-fun or super-stunning decorative result.

Enjoy!


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There are affiliate links, so if you do decide to use any of them, I´ll earn a small commission. But in all honesty, these are the exact what I use and recommend to everyone, even my own family.

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References

https://www.fda.gov/

https://colorgarden.net/

Lindsey

Lindsey graduated with an MBA in 2009. Since then, Lindsey has worked in the retail and consumer service industry as a manager, advisor, and marketer. Lindsey is also the head writer and Co-founder of Rvandplaya.com. Lindsey is based in Morgantown, West Virginia.

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