Pink food coloring comes in a lot of shades to make a variety of pink and peachy colors, so I decided to look at some of them to see what the differences were.
I did light, medium, and dark versions of different brands and shades of pink food dyes, and these are the demos.
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Mixing method for coloring buttercream icing.
I originally included Terra Cotta in this group, but it turned out to be way too orange, so I pulled it out. Bye bye!
The Wilton colors that I was using were the little jars of the paste colors, which will last for a long time as long as you don’t contaminate them by getting icing into them. The jars say “gel” but these aren’t the dropper bottles of gel color.
The best way to avoid ruining the jar is to use toothpicks to get the food coloring out, and using a clean one each time you want to add more color.
I also used to use poultry lacers for this so that I wouldn’t be throwing toothpicks away all the time, but the important thing is to avoid getting icing into the food coloring!
Start with a little color, and add more as you go. Some of the colors are really strong, so start with less than you think you’ll need and work your way up.
These colors are a lot more concentrated than liquid food coloring, and they give you better colors. Click here to check the difference between these, regular McCormick colors, and natural food colorings.
Wilton Pink.
Wilton Pink is a serious pink, it’s not holding back.
This makes a good range of pink, from soft bubblegum to hot pink.
This would be a good color for a girl’s birthday cake or anything that you need a definite pink color. It’s saturated and it’s really pink.
To see an article about which colors are in the Americolor Junior Set, click here.
Wilton Burgundy.
Wilton Burgundy could be put into the red or purple group, but I decided to include it here based on the color on the label.
It turned out that a little burgundy was very pink, and you needed to add a lot of the food coloring to get to the darkest color that matched the label.
I used to use this color to make burgundy and maroon for darker colors on groom’s cakes fairly often. Too much food coloring isn’t great since it will make the icing bitter and stain everyone’s mouths,
The easiest way to do it without ending up with a ton of food coloring in the icing is to start with a darker base icing. Using some cocoa in the icing to turn it light brown first will give you a good base, and you won’t need as much burgundy after that.
Leaving the icing out to darken overnight is also a good idea if you have the time. The color will deepen if you let it rest.
Click to see a comparison of yellow food coloring.
Wilton Aster Mauve.
Wilton Aster Mauve is another one that could go into the pink category, and I’ll probably add it to that section when I compare those colors. But pink is still a version of red, so it’s here, too.
This mixes up in a color that I would say was more pink than mauve, but it’s in the neighborhood. It’s definitely a little more grey than bright pink.
Aster Mauve gives you a range of pink, but by the time you get to the darkest color it’s very similar to the burgundy food coloring. The lighter version is a nice pastel that’s good for flower petals.
The two colors side-by-side show how close they are, and you can see that the aster is more muted and pastel.
This color comes in a set of four smaller colors, or you can find it in the larger pots in stores if you’re lucky.
Wilton Creamy Peach.
The Creamy Peach color could go in the pink category or in the shades of orange. I decided to include it but it definitely tends to be more yellow, especially when you add a lot of it to the frosting.
The color on the label looks pinker than the actual icing color. As I started mixing it up it was definitely a light orange.
This label wasn’t a good advertisement for the actual color…The icing got a lot more orange as I added more color and farther from the pinky peach on the jar. It’s still in the red family, but I’d put this way over on the orange side.
Americolor Electric Pink.
Americolor Electric Pink isn’t as crazy as it sounds. It made a nice pink color that would be good as an all-purpose pink for multiple uses.
Depending how much you put in the icing, you’ll get a pinker color, and it didn’t take a ton to make a good deep color.
Americolor Deep Pink.
Americolor Deep Pink made a nice bubblegum pink without using too much, and closer to a hot pink with more.
If you started with more icing than I did, this would make a pretty soft pink for a girl’s baby shower cake, or for a ballerina cake.
To see the Basic Six Americolor set that includes this pink color, click here.
Click to see the entire Americolor Electric Colors Food Coloring Set
Americolor Fuchsia.
This was a nice mauve color, but it was definitely on the pinker side. If you’re looking for something a bit more dusty, you could add some green to it like this article shows: How to make Mauve icing
This would make a nice pastel pink if you added a little into a full batch of icing.
Americolor Mauve
This mauve was REALLY greyed out, almost to the point where it was brown. Mauve is another color that’s strange because people say “mauve” but mean different things.
I was thinking that it would be a lot pinker, but it started out a lot more brown, and the darker it got the browner it got even though it had a tiny bit of pink in there.
This color would be good for autumn cakes to give oranges and greens a little tinge of pinky brown, but it’s definitely not pink on its own!
Americolor Dusty Rose
The lighter version of this color is more like what I would call “mauve,” but the more I added, the more orange it got. This Dusty Rose definitely has a lot of orange in it even though the main tint is pink.
As the color got darker, it almost looked like brick red, but a more orange version. There’s a lot of red in it but also yellow.
Americolor Burgundy
This is a really nice burgundy that can range from very light pink to a deep purple-pink. It would be nice for piping chrysanthemums on an autumn-themed cake or cupcakes, or for adding burgundy deatils to a wedding cake.
Comparing the colors.
Here are the colors that I got when I mixed them up…Colors are going to cary based on your computer settings, but in general the Wiltons made the pinkest pinks. I’m going to get some more Americolor pinks to check those out since the ones that I have are all pretty orange-toned.
This cake used the Wilton Creamy Peach color to create an ombre effect. The middle tier was very pink but more color on the bottom tier did make it look more orange.
Pink and peach are pretty colors that can be used in a lot of ways and in a lot of shades…Check out these pink wedding cakes to see some examples of different pink combinations.
