Black Buttercream Icing

I often hear people complain that their black icing did not come quiet black. Here is some good advice: a true shade of black cannot be obtained from white icing. The black coloring will reduce to a gray or a very dimmed black color. Before you start coloring, start with a chocolate icing, i.e., add cocoa powder to your icing before the black coloring.

Try working with gel colors, which to my opinion, pick up the color better than liquids and won't change the consistency of your icing. This become very handy when working with royal icing and fondant which can change the consistency or make it hard to work with.