Food Colouring Paste

Using paste colourings is a simple way to add beautiful colour to your baking. These products are often highly concentrated, meaning they can be a cost-effective option when looking to achieve vibrant shades in your cakes and bakes. They are suitable for colouring sugarpaste/fondant icing, buttercream and more. 

If you’re new to cake decorating, our blog post on the difference between the different types of food colourings is just what you need! 

DOES PASTE FOOD COLOURING WORK IN BUTTERCREAM?

Yes, paste colouring is a great choice for using in buttercream. Thanks to their highly concentrated formula, they can really pack a punch when it comes to frosting. Our recommendation is to take a little bit on the end of a cocktail stick and mix it in for a softer, pastel shade. Continue adding more a little at a time to create beautiful bold shades! 

IS PASTE COLOURING SUITABLE FOR ROYAL ICING? 

Paste food colouring is a good choice for colouring royal icing as it will not impact on the consistency. Liquid colourings are a little more watery, and can thin out your icing, making it too runny. Where a more solid paste colour won’t cause any issues! 

HOW DO YOU USE PASTE COLOURING IN BAKING? 

Paste colourings are really versatile, and a great item to have in your baking and cake decorating kit. The come in a kaleidoscope of colours, meaning whether you’re in need of a more subtle colour for a wedding cake, or a bold shade for a birthday bake, you’ll find the right option! 

The way most people will use a paste food colouring is to mix it in to cake batter, royal icing or buttercream. Err on the side of caution here, building the colour up slowly. 

Alternatively, you can knead a tiny amount into sugarpaste/fondant icing, modelling paste, flower paste or marzipan!  

And, much like you can with powder colourings, you can turn your paste colourings into an edible paint! Talk about a multi-purpose product! Mix a small amount of paste colouring with rejuvenator spirit, water, vodka or even something like almond extract. Apply to your cakes using food-safe cake brushes! 

WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED TO USE WITH PASTE COLOURINGS? 

While you don’t need any particular tools to add paste colourings to your cake ingredients, here are a few items you might need after that step! 

Piping bags and piping tips: pipe beautiful designs with your newly coloured buttercream, using our range of professional quality piping equipment.  

Fondant rolling pin: a non-stick rolling pin made of plastic is a must-have if you’re rolling out the sugarpaste you’ve coloured using your pretty paste colourings! 

Smoothers and scrapers: ideal for smoothing out your vibrant buttercream when covering a cake.