Did you know that you can use brown food coloring to make brown icing instead of red or orange? It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Brown icing is a great alternative to red or orange icing if you are making gingerbread men, spiders, frogs, or any other creepy-crawly creatures this Halloween. Here’s a quick and easy tutorial on how to make brown icing with food coloring for your next batch of gingerbread cookies.
How To Make Brown Icing With Food Coloring
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 1/8 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup of butter, and 3 tablespoons of water.
- Slowly add red or orange food coloring to the mixture. Mix well until it is a nice shade of brown.
- If you want your icing to be more chocolate brown than brown, add in more red or orange food coloring until you get the desired color. You can also make your icing darker by adding black food coloring. I like the color that I got with just red and orange for my gingerbread cookies, but if you want it darker I would suggest adding a little black food coloring to the mix as well. The more color that you add to the icing, the darker it will become.
- If you want to keep it all-natural, you can skip the food coloring and use only powdered sugar for your icing. It will be a nice shade of brown, but it won’t have that great chocolate brown coloring that you see in the pictures above.
- If you want to make your icing even darker, add a little food coloring or cocoa powder. You can also add in a little bit of red or orange food coloring if you want to make it even darker. If you are going for an orange color, be sure to use only orange food coloring and not red or brown because it will be too dark.
What Are The Different Ways To Make Brown Icing?
1. Make a Basic Red Icing
First, make your basic red icing by combining 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons of meringue powder, ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar, and 2-3 drops of food coloring. The amount of color you add depends on what you are making. For spiders or spiders web we use about 4-5 drops for every cup of confectioners’ sugar, for frogs, we use about 8-10 drops per cup and for zombie heads or any other creepy crawly creatures, we use about 14-16 drops. You can also change the thickness by adding a bit more or less confectioners’ sugar to the recipe.
2. Make a Basic Brown Icing
To make brown icing, simply add 1 ½ cups of confectioners’ sugar to 3 tablespoons of meringue powder, 1/8 teaspoon cream tartar, and 3-4 drops of food coloring per cup. Mix well and then add a few drops of milk and mix again. If you want to make a darker brown icing, then add more food coloring or meringue powder.
3. Make a Basic Yellow Icing
To make yellow icing, simply add 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar to 2 tablespoons of meringue powder, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, and 3-4 drops of food coloring per cup. Mix well and then add a few drops of milk and mix again. If you want to make a darker brown icing, then add more food coloring or meringue powder.
Tips For Making Brown Icing With Food Coloring
- You will need to use about 1 teaspoon of red food coloring for every 1 cup of powdered sugar. You can also add a little bit of yellow or orange food coloring to the mix if you want a darker shade of brown.
- Always make sure that you have enough powdered sugar before adding the food coloring. It is very easy to over-sugar your icing, which will make it too runny and not hold up at all during baking. Make sure to use good quality powdered sugar with no lumps in it; this will ensure that your icing stays smooth and doesn’t become too dry or sticky.
- To get the right consistency, mix your powdered sugar and food coloring together until you get a nice thick paste, then add more powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency that you desire for your icing (just remember that it should be thick enough so that when you spread it on your cookie, it doesn’t run down the sides). Remember to mix your icing until it is the correct consistency.
- Always use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for mixing your icing. The paddle will ensure that you get the right consistency and that you don’t over-mix your icing, which can cause it to become too thin and runny.
- For best results, spread your icing on the cookie as soon as possible after making it. An hour or two later after you have made the icing, it will start to dry out and become too stiff to spread easily. If you wait too long to apply the icing, it will also start to harden up and become more difficult to spread on your cookie.
Why Is It Important To Use Food Coloring When Making Brown Icing?
- Food coloring is non-toxic, so it’s safe for kids to eat.
- Food coloring is not a liquid, so you don’t need to worry about your icing drying out as you do with liquid food coloring.
- You can use brown food coloring in place of red or orange food coloring because the color of brown icing will be darker than the color of red or orange icing, which makes it easier to see when you are assembling your gingerbread cookies.
- Brown food coloring is approved by the FDA as a safe and healthy alternative to red and orange food coloring because there is less than 1% of each color in brown icing compared to more than 5% in red and more than 2% in orange.
- The brown color you get from brown food coloring is closer to the color of chocolate than the color of red or orange icing.
- Brown food coloring actually looks very similar to dark chocolate, which makes it a great alternative for people who want to make chocolate cookies but don’t want to use chocolate candy melts because it’s not as messy.
Conclusion
Brown icing is a classic Halloween decoration that can be used in a variety of unique and creative ways. Whether you use it to decorate cookies, or cakes, or create a few treats for your trick-or-treaters, this classic Halloween staple is sure to spread some spooky fun.
