How do I make burgundy gum paste and keep it burgundy?

by Gwen
(Cleveland, Ohio)

I have made gum paste using wilton's gum tex, and followed the recipe on the can (powdered sugar, water, corn syrup(glucose), gum tex). I have tried two different methods for coloring the gum paste burgundy. First, I bought burgundy food color (wilton) and tried this. After about a half hour, the gum paste started turning brown. The next morning, it is dark brown. I tried using a smaller amount of food color and it simply turned a lighter shade of brown (a tan color) overnight. Second, thinking it was the food coloring, I looked up a recipe online to create burgundy (5 rose + 1 violet). This looked great for about 2 hours, but also started to change to a brown and the next morning the gum paste is now a horrible shade of dark olive green! I also took a piece gum paste and added the 5 parts rose and cut the violet way back. After mixing in, the gum paste was a dark rose color. In the morning, it is now light brown. I am not sure if there is a chemical reaction occurring that I am not aware of, but I need to make a burgundy gum paste for a cake soon. How do I make the burgundy and keep it burgundy???

From the editor:

Hi Gwen,

Here are couple of things you can try:

1. Start with the reddest red gum paste you can get. I like Americolor Super Red, then add the tiniest, and I mean very very tiny, ball of sky blue paste and knead together. Leave for a while then add more if you need it. I've had good luck with this method.

Lots of people report great success using the same method with black instead of blue.

2. Use red gum paste and paint or dust with burgundy color after it's dried.

3. Be sure to store the gum paste out of direct light, as this can cause the colors to change more dramatically.

Good luck.

Regards,

Michelle (editor)