The Sugar Art Gel Colors are the ultimate food color choice for bakers looking to achieve vibrant, consistent and professional-quality colors in their cakes, cookies and baked goods! These highly concentrated gel food colors offer unparalleled intensity, allowing you to achieve true-to-life hues.
What is gel food coloring?
Gel food coloring is a concentrated liquid color used to tint icing, fondant, cookie dough, cake batter and macaron batter. It carries far more pigment than thin supermarket coloring in a thicker base, so it colors deeply without adding enough water to thin your icing. It is water based and will not color chocolate.
What is the difference between gel and liquid food coloring?
Both are liquid. The difference is concentration and viscosity, not state. Gel carries far more pigment in a thicker base, so a small amount reaches a deep shade without loosening your icing. Thin supermarket coloring is mostly water, so reaching the same depth means adding enough liquid to change the consistency.
Is gel food coloring oil based?
No. Gel food coloring is water based, which is why it will not color chocolate. For chocolate and cocoa butter you need a fat-soluble color: ChocElite is the oil-soluble line, and Master Elite White and Black are fat-soluble. Gel cannot be converted to oil based.
Can I use gel food coloring in place of regular food coloring?
Yes, and you will need less of it. Gel is far more concentrated than thin supermarket coloring, so start with a small amount and build until you reach the shade you want. Adding gel gradually also protects the consistency of royal icing and buttercream, which thin coloring can loosen.
Is gel food coloring stronger than liquid?
Yes, considerably. The rule of thumb is that gel colors are two to three times stronger than liquid colors, and in some cases significantly more than that. That is why gel tints icing deeply without thinning it, while liquid has to be added in volume and waters the icing down as it goes.
Does gel food coloring expire?
Yes. Gel food colorings expire, and the date depends on when the batch was produced. Typically the expiration is three to five years from the date of production. Every jar we make carries its own lot number and expiration date, so you can always check the bottle in front of you rather than guessing.
Is gel food coloring gluten free?
We do not use any gluten-containing ingredients in the gel line. That speaks to the formulation, not a certification. If you are baking for a medical restriction, contact us and we will tell you exactly what is in the bottle.
How do you get food coloring off skin?
Synthetic colors are pH sensitive, so acidity is what lifts them. Put a little vinegar or lemon juice on the stain and let it sit on the skin after you have already washed thoroughly. The pigment lightens as it reacts. Repeat rather than scrubbing, which irritates skin without removing more color.
What is food coloring made of?
Food coloring is pigment carried in a base. Water for gels and liquids, oil for chocolate colors, and a dry carrier for powders. The pigment is either FD&C certified color or plant-derived, depending on the line. Every product we make lists its full ingredients, a lot number and an expiration date.
Can you dye Easter eggs with gel food coloring?
Yes. Dissolve a small amount of gel in warm water with a splash of vinegar, then dip as usual. Gel is concentrated, so you need far less than you would think. Start with a pea-sized amount per cup and add more if you want deeper color. It gives richer tones than supermarket liquid.
How do you color royal icing?
Add gel a little at a time and mix fully before judging the shade, because royal icing deepens as it dries. Gel is the right choice here. It is concentrated, so it colors without thinning the icing and breaking your consistency. For black, expect to use more and let it rest.
How much gel food coloring should I use instead of liquid?
Gel is two to three times stronger than liquid, and in some cases significantly more than that. Start with roughly a third of the liquid amount a recipe calls for and build from there. Gel also colors without thinning your icing, which is the other reason to switch.
How do you make mauve icing?
You do not have to mix it. Mauve is a dusty purple-pink that is genuinely hard to blend from scratch. Too much red and it turns muddy, too much blue and it goes grey. We sell it as a single gel, so you get the shade straight from the bottle and it stays consistent batch to batch.
How do you make peach icing?
Peach is orange softened with a little white and a touch of pink, which is easy to overshoot when you are mixing by eye. Our Coral gel gets you there in one bottle. If you are blending, add color to white icing a little at a time, because peach goes to salmon fast.
How do you make burgundy icing?
Burgundy is a deep red pulled toward purple, and mixing it usually ends up brown. We sell Burgundy as a single gel so the depth is already in the bottle. Whichever way you get there, let it sit, because deep reds continue to darken for an hour or more after mixing.
How do you make skin tone icing?
Start from Ivory and warm it with a little Taupe, adjusting toward whichever tone you need. Skin tones are built from a warm neutral base rather than from pink, which is the mistake that makes them look sunburnt. Add color gradually. You can always deepen, you cannot lighten.
How do you make teal icing?
Teal sits between blue and green, and blending it by eye usually lands too far one way. Our Turquoise gel gives it in one bottle. If you are mixing, start from blue and add green in small amounts, because green takes over quickly and teal turns to mint before you notice.
How do you make ivory icing?
Ivory is white warmed with the smallest amount of yellow and brown, so small that mixing it usually produces cream or beige instead. We sell Ivory as a single gel for that reason. It is the base for skin tones too, so it earns its place in the kit.
