Color is integral in each cake design, and using the right shade of color is essential in making beautiful cakes. However, different brands formulate their colors differently even if they do have the same name. In this article, my aim is to help newbie cake decorators figure out which brand of color to use to achieve a particular shade.

In the Philippines where we have limited access to different brands and shades of food color for cake decorating, we often just take what we see on the store shelf. This is what usually happens when I shop for gel pastes and air brush colors. I just make do with what I can get my hands on. Oftentimes, I couldn’t get any premixed orange, teal, or purple food coloring. Mostly, only the primary colors (red, blue, yellow) are readily available, so I just buy them and mix the colors myself. Thank goodness I listened well to my grade school art teacher when she discussed the color wheel.

There are also times when I want a particular shade for my design. A very common color I always use is red. I usually prefer the brighter shade of red especially when I do children’s cakes because it makes the cake look happier and more attractive. Deeper reds make cakes look more serious, more formal, and more sophisticated.

I first purchased a bottle of Super Red Amerimist Air Brush color by Americolor. It was the only type of red air brush color I found inside the store. I thought, well this is exactly what I need! I’ve been using it for quite sometime, and every time there would be blotches of black/maroon on my fondant. At first, I didn’t really mind the darker and deeper color. However, I soon noticed that the color was sort of “dirty.” There were darker spots on my cake, and my attempts to even out the color with more layers only made things worse. I thought some black coloring got stuck in my air brush gun, but after meticulously cleaning the gun, I realized that there was nothing wrong with it. AmeriMist Super Red was simply too dark for my liking. It is what it is.

 

So I decided to look for another shade or another brand of red. That’s when I found out that Chefmaster also has its own version of Super Red air brush color. I ordered a bottle and used it on a three-tier cake, similar to a previous cake I made which I colored using AmeriMist Super Red.

 

I really love it’s brighter red shade! And look! There are no uneven spots! Below is a photo of similar cakes, each colored using the different brands of Super Red air brush color.

Chefmaster Super Red is such a shiny and happy shade, but AmeriMist Super Red tends to be darker and deeper, but duller.

If you want your cake to pop out, I suggest that you use Chefmaster Super Red air brush color. If you want a more subdued red or maroon color, use AmeriMist Super Red.