Fondant dying made easy!

Happy Wednesday! How are you all doing on this gloomy day in Manhattan? Since the weather isn't the best, here's a great excuse to play in the kitchen! I'm going to talk to you about dying fondant. For an upcoming order, I've been asked to dye fondant a few different colors. I'm going to lay out my process for you:
Measuring

First I measure the amount of fondant I will need for the size of my cake. One of my most valuable kitchen tools is my scale. I've had it since culinary school and it weighs perfectly every time!








Colors

Next up, you need to make sure you keep moving. Fondant tends to dry out if left in the air too long. If you're only dying some of your fondant and keeping the rest for later, be sure to wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap (double layers are good!) and maybe even in a plastic bag! Back to the fondant: remember you can always add more color, but you can't exactly take color away once it's in. Adding little by little, knead the fondant with the dye (similar to a bread dough) until it's completely mixed in. Be prepared to have messy hands! Dye washes out over time, though I've gotten about 85% of it off my hands using shampoo (the cure for everything!). If the color is too light, add more color and knead again. I do my dying on a special fondant mat, something in which you might want to invest if you plan on dying a lot of fondant. If the fondant starts too get to sticky, sprinkle the mat with confectioners' sugar or cornstarch and keep going.
End Results

Once you've got the color you were looking for, wrap up your fondant twice in plastic wrap and zip it tight in a ziplock (remove all the excess air) unless using immediately.









Good luck and happy baking!