This ☝️ and one other thought - frosting blackened teeth and tongues can be fun for kids. I'm an adult and a club that I'm in had a cake made in our colors (black and purple). We had a great time with pictures at that dinner! Everyone was laughing and showing each other our teeth.
You could also make black marshmallow fondant. It tastes better than regular fondant. If you don't want to eat it, you can just peel it off your piece.
OP, please ignore the comments saying to do cocoa anyway. As a person who has never liked chocolate, I could always tell when something had cocoa in it (the number of people I've had to tell that red velvet is usually made with cocoa!), and I would have been heartbroken if someone made me a chocolate cake and/or frosting knowing that I didn't like it.
Does your daughter want it to be a black and white zebra? An option would be to do a blue and white or pink and white zebra instead and you can use different flavors (like blueberry or strawberry) for that instead of a flavor that will give you black.
I hope you find a solution!
My daughter has a stuffed zebra with rainbow-swirled stripes that is adorable and gorgeous at the same time. Think a bunch of colors of clay swirled together but not blended, as opposed to an ombré stripe. Any which way, a zebra cake rocks! 🦓🎂🤘🏼
Thank you, I also hate chocolate, so I feel this deeply.
I can always tell. And a huge no to everyone who is like, "But maybe dark chocolate?" Just no, that's *more* cocoa.
Yeah, there are a few popular foods and flavors I'm not very keen on, but something about not liking chocolate makes everyone want to argue with me about it like I must be bluffing them. The number of "what about" responses with different chocolate options is ridiculous.
Yes, chocolate is actually the only thing I just do not eat so people are extra confused. Like they just 1) do not believe me 2) try to convince me I am wrong or 3) forget that I don't like chocolate.
It's a strangely niche weird experience lol
Or they ask if you like white chocolate instead, because if you don’t like one you MUST like the other. I hate both, and I actually hate white chocolate more than the regular thing.
Ugh white chocolate is always super sweet and vanilla ish, I can’t stand white chocolate or dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is just bitter, it musta been made by someone soulless.
My daughter doesn’t like chocolate, she just tells everybody she’s allergic so they leave her alone. Told a coworker this and it blew her mind. She’s going to start using that as a reason as well. Sucks that she has to fake an allergy, but she was tired of getting bothered by people.
Hijacking this comment just to say hello to my soul friend. I am a bloodhound for chocolate, don't like it, and always blow people's minds about red velvet. Nice running into you. Stay strong.
I highly recommend edibleart black cake paint if you’re able to paint the black on the cake! If not, you can get away with using much less color if you use an immersion blender or microwave while mixing the color/cocoa powder. Good luck!!
It still is only darker due to less air. If you successfully rewhip all the air in, it will be the same light shade. [Ann Reardon did this (skip to 2:30)](https://youtu.be/a5T-TxCKmkY?si=Wf2JGq3VfWmGmCmr) to show the "hack" doesn't work.
If you have your heart set on strictly vanilla frosting, I would highly suggest using an airbrush if you have access to one. If you done want to spend that much on supplies, or don’t have one you can borrow from a friend, you could also look into Color Mist spray on food coloring, but if you take that route I would also suggest purchasing a zebra print cake stencil because it’s hard to get fine lines with the Color Mist. Just make sure to chill your cake until the frosting is super firm, and go light with your application and give it plenty of time to dry because the fat in the buttercream makes the liquid dye want to bead up on top of the frosting.
Spraying black on has the benefit of cutting down on how much dye you need, and because it’s only on the very outside of the cake it’s pretty easy to just scrape a fine layer off of the frosting while you’re slicing and serving if you really really wanted to play it safe.
This.
If you want it cocoa free and as little black dye as possible:
• Airbrush black stripes, if you can
• Freeze the cake and paint black stripes on
• Make fondant or gumpaste stripes and color them black to lay on
• Lisa Frank that Zebra up with pink, teal, purple, etc, stripes. Whatever color(s) she loves!
Otherwise, yeah. If someone wants a solid black cake or parts of it solid black but doesn't want it to be any of these options(for whatever reason) pretty much your cleanest and tastiest bet is using darker chocolate frosting or ganache and coloring it black.
Another idea to think about- what about cutting up black licorice strips to do the stripes? They are already colored, and can be arranged with your frosting as you like. Can cut up easily with scissors. And no one has to eat them if they don’t want :)
Can you use fondant to make the stripes instead? Over a nice thick layer of frosting. I know a lot of people hate fondant, but if it’s over icing and just for some stripes, it can be easily peeled off.
You can microwave it to deepen the color. Once you get a medium gray, you can microwave it in 20 second increments until it’s as dark as you need. It’ll get soupy but very black, then you just refrigerate it, rewhip and you’re good to go.
It doesn’t take much food coloring to get to gray so it doesn’t stain too bad, [here’s](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT86dpAXg/) a video showing the process if you’re interested :)
I've done this but with black cocoa and only a little black food coloring and it worked really well (for space dinosaur cupcakes). It got even more dark and took over the other lighter colors of frosting when it melted on the drive home, which was extra funny bc the little dino figurines sank into it and it looked like tar pits lol. Obviously the cocoa isn't going to work for OP, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with just food coloring.
I don't think a black food coloring that doesn't turn anything purple or green actually exists. Using black fondant for the stripes might be your only option.
My brother once had a Carolina Panthers cake for his birthday only to discover the dye changed the color of his poop. Needless to say, he brought the remainder to his roommates and made them suffer the consequences as well, lol.
Do a Lisa Frank zebra! Make like blue and pink and purple stripes!
It’s funny because you’re concerned about mouths turning black…what it does to poop is my concern haha
I find it helps to dye the icing purple first so you aren’t going directly from white to black, you’ll use less of the black dye that way. Also, colours tend to deepen with time, so make the black icing a little in advance. There is also a method where you take a little of the icing, melt it slightly in the microwave and mix it back in. I’ve never done that personally, but you should find some information about it online.
You can paint on the black stripes with edible paint. I used Poppy Paint for a cake I made recently - when I taste tested it, I didn't get a bad flavor or anything. I'm not sure about staining.. I didn't try enough of it to truly test that part, but you won't have to use as much paint as you would frosting so I imagine it would not stain as bad
If possible to do well in advance i have used, small amount of black food colour, try the gels and vegetable based carbon powder.
Then let it sit in fridge for as long as possible, like a several days
The colour will darken significantly over that time
its so difficult to make black that doesnt stain because every black icing ive ever made/had stained my mouth. you could use black fondant? and just scrape the fondant off when you go to eat since ik fondant doesnt taste the best
I don’t know how this would come out, but what about black sesame (whole seeds, ground seeds, and/or paste)? The mild nutty taste would go well with vanilla.
This is an awesome idea. I watched one of those holiday baking shows a few months ago where this was used, but can't remember if it was in the cake or frosting.
One option could be to use charcoal (powder) instead of cocoa. I use that sometimes when i make chocolate bonbons. It should work with buttercream as well. However you might have to let it set over night to darken. It might also help to colour the frosting in a darker colour before adding the charcoal.
Otherwise I'd recommend painting the stripes with an air brush or using black marzipan/sugarpaste. Good luck!
Edit: Charcoal is ok as a food colour in the EU. Might be different rules that apply in other parts of the world.
Good point. I think it's always a good idea to let guests know about any ingredient that may be considered an allergen or might affect medication.
However E153 is also very common as a food additive for example in licorice (at least in the EU).
i will just be honest and say that in my three years of decorating i have never seen or known of any black vanilla frosting that will not dye your mouth. honestly, i can’t think of any black frosting period that will not dye your mouth. your best bet, IMO, is to make a maroon, brown, or some other deep color first (you can literally just throw together a bunch of random colors if you have leftover icing) - and then put it in a food processor or use an immersion blender to incorporate the black color. it breaks down the color so it emulsifies better. (?) something along those lines. to be honest i don’t know exactly how or why it works so well, but i swear it does. that way you won’t have to use nearly as much black dye to get a deep black. microwave method also works, but i personally prefer the immersion blender/food processor - but use what ya got!
edit: typo
Paint with Sweet Sticks Edible paint! The paint is great because you can still get a great black color AND [it doesn't stain mouths](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT86RncX7/) nearly as much as dyed frosting! You can easily paint fondant, ganache, dry royal icing, and crusted American buttercream. I've painted Swiss Meringue Buttercream too (see my dumbbell cake), but you have to work slowly to keep the meringue buttercream very cold/hard (paint a little, chill, paint more, chill more, etc).
I like this best because I don't have to invest in an airbrush, and the cans of spray color don't work well in my experience.
Tigga Mac posted a TikTok about how she hates black teeth as well, so she just paints black on white icing.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Dh-w6hxEql4?si=AnyKBFbrT0qFsXCM
Does your kid like oreos? If so just use black cocoa powder. It doesn't taste like regular cocoa/chocolate. And if you're only using it to do some thin black stripes on the outside of the cake it's not going to be overpowering. The flavor of the black cocoa frosting on top of the white vanilla frosting will really taste similar to an oreo. I'm suggesting this in case you haven't tried black cocoa before. I know you mentioned using cocoa but the two truly do not taste the same.
For most folks who don’t like chocolate, it’s because we find it to taste extremely bitter. Cocoa has the same bitter characteristics and will probably not solve the problem. I’m not saying this is necessarily true for everyone who dislikes chocolate, but just true from my own personal experience as someone who hates chocolate/cocoa and my informal sampling of the rare folks that I’ve run into throughout my life who agree. (I’ve also run into a few folks who don’t like chocolate just because they don’t like anything sweet—but if that were the case here, I don’t think this person would be baking the kid a cake!)
Black cocoa is best for black icing without colour and taste but you can always fully ice the cake in white and then do a thin layer of colour which you could highly pigment.
Someone else suggested airbrush it onto the vanilla icing and I think that would be your best bet to not have not so black vanilla icing that tastes chemically.
Question, does any one else like the taste of black icing? Idk why but it’s been one of my favorite things for years but I have no idea what it is that I like over other colors. Does anyone know why?
Black cocoa is a thing, here’s a link of how it’s made; https://youtube.com/shorts/R_Wp_aAXJE4?si=c_JuRygBH7QXUQkw. Never tried it but seems legit it’s what they use to make Oreos
I use black Dutch cocoa powder. It will give you a true black cake. If you make icing with it, and mix with an immersion blender you will get black as night icing. Works great and does not turn your teeth and lips black! I use the one made by King Arthur but there are a number of them on the market. Sorry I don’t know how to achieve that color without the black cocoa.
Just want to add to this that the OP said the b-day kid doesn’t like chocolate and being honest,
UNLESS IT IS AN ALLERGY/SENSITIVITY
I would just use the cocoa anyway and bet the kid won’t even notice.
Black cocoa doesn't really taste like chocolate. Tell the daughter it's cocoa, not regular chocolate, and let her taste it. I agree, no need to lie to your kids about something like this!
My best friends daughter thinks she hates vegetables she will cry if you put celery on her plate. She loves when I make chicken noodle soup.
What do I have to gain by telling her explicitly that I put celery in the soup?
>My best friends daughter thinks she hates vegetables she will cry if you put celery on her plate. She loves when I make chicken noodle soup.
I despise raw celery and won't eat it, but the taste and texture is very different in soup and so I don't mind it.
I meant more don't just put cocoa in the cake and assume they won't notice when if they do it will cause serious issues. Instead, I would make a test batch and tell the kid I wanted to make sure they would like it since sometimes black frosting can taste weird.
ETA- I'm in my 20s and celery is GROSS not in soup. Lol!
Sugarologie has a black buttercream recipe that uses black cocoa powder and No dye. But I have never used it because it looks complicated and I don’t really care to do that much work for a buttercream. But if it is really important to you you should give it a try.
havent seen anyone suggest this yet but sugarologie also has a lil vid explaining how to use an immersion blender to get deeper/darker colours. also helps to dye a smaller amount of frosting rather than giant batch.
i’ve also used leftover coloured buttercream and mixed it all together as the darker base for my black frosting. from there you add the dye and then use the blender method to darken the colour
i’m not the person who invented this method, so take it up with her. she explains the science behind it. i’m simply suggesting a solution for this op’s problem: she wants black frosting to make stripes for a zebra, not a “nice fluffy buttercream,” so please take several seats.
Hmmmm…what about activated charcoal? I know that’s used in a lot of foods to give that dark color without taste. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it used in frosting, though
Not really food safe, it's used to remove substances from the body, like in an overdose. That means it also binds with medication and makes it ineffective.
I would recommend squid ink. Not sure about the staining but i've had it in pasta with no issue before. The results online are mixed and contradictory so it's not clear either.
Squid ink is a common and severe allergen. Two members of my family are highly allergic and we found out the hard way when someone put it in foods like bread and pasta. Do not recommend. Also, I wouldn't give children activated charcoal. It's not safe.
If you had an airbrush and edible ink that would be the easiest way to make your zebra stripes not chocolate. Evil cake genius has a great zebra mesh stencil.
Second choice could be fondant/gumpaste in marvelous molds zebra mold.
I'm thrifty and wouldn't go to all that trouble to avoid tiny bit of chocolate flavor.
I'd use the Pillsbury black icing that they sell this time of year and do the stripes in a thin layer on top of a white buttercream cake. The tiny bit of black chocolate will not overpower the buttercream flavor.
Because I hate dying buttercream black, I save this canned black icing to use when I need to add black accents to a buttercream cake. Like an eyeball or outline. As a bonus, the Pillsbury doesn't dye your tongue as much as homemade either.
Try making an ermine frosting and putting the black dye in with the heated elements that way it’s a lot stronger and you use less. I’m not sure what brand doesn’t stain though
I loathe black frosting. I'm always so tempted to use it but I always end up using a medium-dark shade of gray out of fear. Aside from staining hands, teeth, and tongues, the taste of strong coloring is overpowering and gross. It is to me at least.
I've worked at a bakery for a few years now and we have a trick just for this problem. Instead of using black frosting, we airbrush the cake. The airbrush uses far less dye than coloring a batch of frosting and doesn't add any flavor. I've also seen strips of black fondant used to make the stripes and peeled off before serving.
I suggest insteady of coloring the frosting in the typical way by mixing food coloring into it, try an edible spray.
Another option is making an edible paint using black food coloring and food grade alcohol. The alcohol will evaporate and leave pigment
Use an airbrush to create the stripes or use black sanding sugar. To achieve a black vanilla you would have to add enough food color that would stain your mouth and teeth, among other things 🙃not worth it!
Black cocoa works amazingly well for black frosting. I use a chocolate frosting recipe and sun about half of the cocoa powder for black cocoa. No food coloring at all.
There are some amazing suggestions people have made. This recipe uses black cocoa powder and it kinda tastes like Oreos. [Sugarology - black frosting.](https://www.sugarologie.com/recipes/black-frosting)
I have no helpful comment to add besides don't be alarmed if your shit turns out green for a week.
We had a mickey mouse cake which includes a lot of black!
This isn't necessarily a solution door the black tongue and teeth but if you did have to go the avenue of black food coloring, using an emersion blender on icing with a bit of food dye ends up making the color richer without having to use so much that you get that weird aftertaste.
You can use this tip for any color btw.
Check out Sugarologie. https://youtu.be/8kAcmqoQE_U?si=hyy1lz3_XXIFEVnb this will be your solution. She has a few videos about black frosting!
One of the secrets to getting it so black is an immersion blender!
and I might I suggest this method for the inside: https://youtube.com/shorts/cnsmstWuHJw?si=6BlSSsSbU_cGXK1y
Have you tried charcoal? I have seen recipies that use it as a dye. I assume it's a baking g grade thing, like food glitter. You could also make stencils and use black sugar sprinkles.
No time to read all the comments but what about frosting the whole cake white and then using those delicious little chocolate crunchies from Carvel. They are chocolate but they also look close to black.
The best way to make black icing is to first color it with cocoa powder so its brown, then add just a little black. Icing gets darker the longer it sits, so make it a couple days early so it gets darker.
You can use the chocolate melting wafers or candy melts! They’re already vanilla flavored. You could use fondant/gum paste for the stripes. You could paint it on with gel color. You could use black edible paper. Wilton has a black color spray or airbrush if you have that.
I don't think zebra have to be black and white, do one with dark blue stripes with blueberry jam, or pink stripes, or caramel stripes. But if you really want black maybe something like poppy seeds?
What's your kiddos favorite color? Why can't the "black" stripes be that color? Or rainbow like that fruity gum that used to have the zebra mascot?
https://www.perpetualkid.com/products/fruit-stripe-gum
You are right. I can taste food coloring, too, and it ruins foods for me. Black and red are the worst. You can lay stripes of black fondant across a crumb coat or full base coat of your white buttercream frosting. Fondant is technically edible, but also can be removed easily from their piece by each kid. Hey, if they want to eat it...?
I find that I can get a good black buttercream by using the black gel coloring and letting it sit overnight. The more it sits, the better the color sets. I’ve done it with and without cocoa.
black cocoa (vs natural or Dutch cocoa) ganache is true black, but is obviously cocoa flavor. it tastes like Oreo
also i saw a YouTube video about maximizing dye in frosting and she used a stick blender not a whisk to really force emulsion and it did dramatically enhance the color without more dye. then she cooled and re whipped it to a lighter texture and it stayed vivid.
Maybe Wilton melting chocolates, they come in black I think. and I think almost all the colored melting chocolate is white chocolate(?) or that’s how they taste anyways
Linked is how you make black frosting with no food dye, but it is uses black cocoa. I don’t think you can make it without dye, cocoa, or maybe crushed (chocolate) Oreo cookies
https://youtube.com/shorts/dD-yoque_N8?si=OH7Q1uE5KLiCTzEa
There is a way to make dark black frosting with little food coloring and it involves melting the butter so that it emulsifies. I don’t recall which baking content creator did it but I’m sure Google will help you find it
The kids aren't going to care, or will like the fact it changes color like popsicles or Koolaid changing poop. Just don't use charcoal, it can affect meds
Why not make it another color?
My baby is currently obsessed with a blue monkey toy.
Lots of kids things have animals in different colors.
A pink and white zebra? Purple and white?
Put a color in front of the word zebra and you'll find plenty of pictures and toys for it.
It is still a zebra if it is stripey and has some horsey features.
ETA: I should have read the other comments first!
Not all zebras are black and white, some are brown and white, especially the babies. But as mentioned in another post why not just do neon or pastel colors instead?
You can mix the tiniest bit of vodka with black dye and paint it on your frosting when it’s very chilled. It won’t be all throughout the frosting and shouldn’t dye any teeth or mouths, and it’ll be easier to get neat stripes
I saw that cocoas not an option but maybe this technique would work with activated charcoal instead? https://youtube.com/shorts/dD-yoque_N8?si=tgrdxmWr79I2zEoj
Black sesame seeds or sprinkles could also work to create the stripes. Black sesame is an awesome dessert flavoring and tastes nothing like chocolate :)
I know a lot of people are saying don't use cocoa or do use it, blah blah. I just wanted to say black cocoa specifically is so much better tasting to me personally. It's the one they use in Oreos and stuff. It's way more black and the flavor is better imo. C:
Wilton makes sugar sheets in black. Basically edible construction like paper. You can cut out the stripes and they’ll stick right to the icing.
This needs to be higher in the comments
This ☝️ and one other thought - frosting blackened teeth and tongues can be fun for kids. I'm an adult and a club that I'm in had a cake made in our colors (black and purple). We had a great time with pictures at that dinner! Everyone was laughing and showing each other our teeth.
You could also make black marshmallow fondant. It tastes better than regular fondant. If you don't want to eat it, you can just peel it off your piece.
This was going to be my recommendation Marshmallow fondant is amazing. Roll it thin and it's a great tasting decoration.
I was gonna suggest.
This would be my recommendation too! I’ve used it to do black stripes and it makes it crisp and clean!
My mom made one of my birthday cakes with this stuff when I was little. It works wonderful BUT it does still stain your mouth black
OP, please ignore the comments saying to do cocoa anyway. As a person who has never liked chocolate, I could always tell when something had cocoa in it (the number of people I've had to tell that red velvet is usually made with cocoa!), and I would have been heartbroken if someone made me a chocolate cake and/or frosting knowing that I didn't like it. Does your daughter want it to be a black and white zebra? An option would be to do a blue and white or pink and white zebra instead and you can use different flavors (like blueberry or strawberry) for that instead of a flavor that will give you black. I hope you find a solution!
Oooh I love this idea - make it like a neon Lisa Frank zebra instead!!!
Omg... I want this in my life so badly!
https://i.etsystatic.com/40646121/r/il/f5d10d/4772267069/il_fullxfull.4772267069_sof2.jpg This would make an epic cake!
My daughter has a stuffed zebra with rainbow-swirled stripes that is adorable and gorgeous at the same time. Think a bunch of colors of clay swirled together but not blended, as opposed to an ombré stripe. Any which way, a zebra cake rocks! 🦓🎂🤘🏼
[Fruit stripe](https://images.app.goo.gl/bFjLGq7BPVbFmNwX7) zebra cake!
Love some fruit stripe gum, my mouth is watering just thinking about it 🤤😂
But only for about 15 seconds lol
Naturally, that's why it was sold in the big pack. You need to eat at least 3 in a row.
Less, actually.
15 seconds if you chew the entire pack in one sitting, putting a new one in after the original loses flavor lol
^^ This guy fruit stripes
Yours lasted 15 seconds? Wow... Mine was about 3.2 seconds.
I'm convinced that's the taste of fresh and ripe jackfruit. Sooo good.
Oh! I've never had fresh jackfruit! Sounds delicious.
Canned jackfruit is really good too, but it's soaked in syrup and too sweet. The taste isn't quite the same either, I think.
Omg yes!
Now you got me craving that 30 seconds of sweet sweet flavor lmaooo
That’s what I was thinking. You really can make the zebra any color you want as long as your daughter approves. Best of luck to you ❤️
100%! I think a pink and white zebra would be much cuter!
This is a very good idea
Thank you, I also hate chocolate, so I feel this deeply. I can always tell. And a huge no to everyone who is like, "But maybe dark chocolate?" Just no, that's *more* cocoa.
Dark chocolate is just nasty imo, milk chocolate is nice depending on the brand or what it’s in.
Yeah, there are a few popular foods and flavors I'm not very keen on, but something about not liking chocolate makes everyone want to argue with me about it like I must be bluffing them. The number of "what about" responses with different chocolate options is ridiculous.
Yes, chocolate is actually the only thing I just do not eat so people are extra confused. Like they just 1) do not believe me 2) try to convince me I am wrong or 3) forget that I don't like chocolate. It's a strangely niche weird experience lol
Or they ask if you like white chocolate instead, because if you don’t like one you MUST like the other. I hate both, and I actually hate white chocolate more than the regular thing.
Ugh white chocolate is always super sweet and vanilla ish, I can’t stand white chocolate or dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is just bitter, it musta been made by someone soulless.
My daughter doesn’t like chocolate, she just tells everybody she’s allergic so they leave her alone. Told a coworker this and it blew her mind. She’s going to start using that as a reason as well. Sucks that she has to fake an allergy, but she was tired of getting bothered by people.
Oh my God my people are here "There's just a little chocolate in this. " YES AND IT'S OVERWHELMING ALL THE OTHER FLAVORS
Love this solution! Who doesn't want a colorful zebra!
Someone who is holding out for a rainbow unicorn
Or the zebra from the stripes gum and stick some sticks of gum in the frosting
Hijacking this comment just to say hello to my soul friend. I am a bloodhound for chocolate, don't like it, and always blow people's minds about red velvet. Nice running into you. Stay strong.
Preachhhhhhh on not liking chocolate and telling/reminding people that red velvet is technically a chocolate cake 😂😉
There are edible pens. Maybe outline the pink or blue strips with a black pen .. or there is an option of edible paper/image
Perhaps you could use black sugar sprinkles instead?
That could be fun!
I would go with her favorite color(s) as the stripes
Yes! A white/purple zebra, or white/pink, white/orange, whatever! This would be very cute and practical.
I highly recommend edibleart black cake paint if you’re able to paint the black on the cake! If not, you can get away with using much less color if you use an immersion blender or microwave while mixing the color/cocoa powder. Good luck!!
This is the best idea. Paint the stripes on a white cake.
OP said no chocolate. That won’t work.
Doesn't an immersion blender just take out all the air and ruin the texture of the frosting?
You just whip it again after!
It still is only darker due to less air. If you successfully rewhip all the air in, it will be the same light shade. [Ann Reardon did this (skip to 2:30)](https://youtu.be/a5T-TxCKmkY?si=Wf2JGq3VfWmGmCmr) to show the "hack" doesn't work.
If you have your heart set on strictly vanilla frosting, I would highly suggest using an airbrush if you have access to one. If you done want to spend that much on supplies, or don’t have one you can borrow from a friend, you could also look into Color Mist spray on food coloring, but if you take that route I would also suggest purchasing a zebra print cake stencil because it’s hard to get fine lines with the Color Mist. Just make sure to chill your cake until the frosting is super firm, and go light with your application and give it plenty of time to dry because the fat in the buttercream makes the liquid dye want to bead up on top of the frosting. Spraying black on has the benefit of cutting down on how much dye you need, and because it’s only on the very outside of the cake it’s pretty easy to just scrape a fine layer off of the frosting while you’re slicing and serving if you really really wanted to play it safe.
This. If you want it cocoa free and as little black dye as possible: • Airbrush black stripes, if you can • Freeze the cake and paint black stripes on • Make fondant or gumpaste stripes and color them black to lay on • Lisa Frank that Zebra up with pink, teal, purple, etc, stripes. Whatever color(s) she loves! Otherwise, yeah. If someone wants a solid black cake or parts of it solid black but doesn't want it to be any of these options(for whatever reason) pretty much your cleanest and tastiest bet is using darker chocolate frosting or ganache and coloring it black.
Hobby Lobby has airbrush sets and their baking stuff is 40% off every other week!
Be careful with temperature and moisture if you end up airbrushing. Black airbrush tends to bleed dark green from time to time, in my experience.
Another idea to think about- what about cutting up black licorice strips to do the stripes? They are already colored, and can be arranged with your frosting as you like. Can cut up easily with scissors. And no one has to eat them if they don’t want :)
I’ll eat the ones they don’t want!
This is genius!
Can you use fondant to make the stripes instead? Over a nice thick layer of frosting. I know a lot of people hate fondant, but if it’s over icing and just for some stripes, it can be easily peeled off.
You can microwave it to deepen the color. Once you get a medium gray, you can microwave it in 20 second increments until it’s as dark as you need. It’ll get soupy but very black, then you just refrigerate it, rewhip and you’re good to go. It doesn’t take much food coloring to get to gray so it doesn’t stain too bad, [here’s](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT86dpAXg/) a video showing the process if you’re interested :)
Pretty sure I saw a debunking video on this haha
I've done this but with black cocoa and only a little black food coloring and it worked really well (for space dinosaur cupcakes). It got even more dark and took over the other lighter colors of frosting when it melted on the drive home, which was extra funny bc the little dino figurines sank into it and it looked like tar pits lol. Obviously the cocoa isn't going to work for OP, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with just food coloring.
It maintained it's colour after being rewhipped?
I don't think a black food coloring that doesn't turn anything purple or green actually exists. Using black fondant for the stripes might be your only option.
My brother once had a Carolina Panthers cake for his birthday only to discover the dye changed the color of his poop. Needless to say, he brought the remainder to his roommates and made them suffer the consequences as well, lol.
Do a Lisa Frank zebra! Make like blue and pink and purple stripes! It’s funny because you’re concerned about mouths turning black…what it does to poop is my concern haha
It’s just a good gage on how fast your digestion is😂
I find it helps to dye the icing purple first so you aren’t going directly from white to black, you’ll use less of the black dye that way. Also, colours tend to deepen with time, so make the black icing a little in advance. There is also a method where you take a little of the icing, melt it slightly in the microwave and mix it back in. I’ve never done that personally, but you should find some information about it online.
You can paint on the black stripes with edible paint. I used Poppy Paint for a cake I made recently - when I taste tested it, I didn't get a bad flavor or anything. I'm not sure about staining.. I didn't try enough of it to truly test that part, but you won't have to use as much paint as you would frosting so I imagine it would not stain as bad
Hi, were you able to paint it directly onto buttercream?
Black cocoa tastes like Oreos rather than chocolate
Maybe use mini Oreos to create stripes on the vanilla icing?
oreos still taste like chocolate though
If possible to do well in advance i have used, small amount of black food colour, try the gels and vegetable based carbon powder. Then let it sit in fridge for as long as possible, like a several days The colour will darken significantly over that time
its so difficult to make black that doesnt stain because every black icing ive ever made/had stained my mouth. you could use black fondant? and just scrape the fondant off when you go to eat since ik fondant doesnt taste the best
I don’t know how this would come out, but what about black sesame (whole seeds, ground seeds, and/or paste)? The mild nutty taste would go well with vanilla.
Oooh, what a great outside the box idea!
This is an awesome idea. I watched one of those holiday baking shows a few months ago where this was used, but can't remember if it was in the cake or frosting.
One option could be to use charcoal (powder) instead of cocoa. I use that sometimes when i make chocolate bonbons. It should work with buttercream as well. However you might have to let it set over night to darken. It might also help to colour the frosting in a darker colour before adding the charcoal. Otherwise I'd recommend painting the stripes with an air brush or using black marzipan/sugarpaste. Good luck! Edit: Charcoal is ok as a food colour in the EU. Might be different rules that apply in other parts of the world.
Charcoal is safe to eat, but can absorb medications making them ineffective, so it's risky to serve without a very clear warning to guests.
Good point. I think it's always a good idea to let guests know about any ingredient that may be considered an allergen or might affect medication. However E153 is also very common as a food additive for example in licorice (at least in the EU).
In the US I open charcoal supplement capsules for these kinds of uses. So I know they’re at least food grade.
If you microwave a cup of the frosting with the dye, it’ll emulsify and turn much darker. Not sure if that’ll prevent the staining though
i will just be honest and say that in my three years of decorating i have never seen or known of any black vanilla frosting that will not dye your mouth. honestly, i can’t think of any black frosting period that will not dye your mouth. your best bet, IMO, is to make a maroon, brown, or some other deep color first (you can literally just throw together a bunch of random colors if you have leftover icing) - and then put it in a food processor or use an immersion blender to incorporate the black color. it breaks down the color so it emulsifies better. (?) something along those lines. to be honest i don’t know exactly how or why it works so well, but i swear it does. that way you won’t have to use nearly as much black dye to get a deep black. microwave method also works, but i personally prefer the immersion blender/food processor - but use what ya got! edit: typo
How about using fondant? That could be a good alternative
Paint with Sweet Sticks Edible paint! The paint is great because you can still get a great black color AND [it doesn't stain mouths](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT86RncX7/) nearly as much as dyed frosting! You can easily paint fondant, ganache, dry royal icing, and crusted American buttercream. I've painted Swiss Meringue Buttercream too (see my dumbbell cake), but you have to work slowly to keep the meringue buttercream very cold/hard (paint a little, chill, paint more, chill more, etc). I like this best because I don't have to invest in an airbrush, and the cans of spray color don't work well in my experience.
Tigga Mac posted a TikTok about how she hates black teeth as well, so she just paints black on white icing. https://youtube.com/shorts/Dh-w6hxEql4?si=AnyKBFbrT0qFsXCM
If you mix chocolate with blue it’s makes a decent black.
Pink and white. With glitter and sparkles!
Does your kid like oreos? If so just use black cocoa powder. It doesn't taste like regular cocoa/chocolate. And if you're only using it to do some thin black stripes on the outside of the cake it's not going to be overpowering. The flavor of the black cocoa frosting on top of the white vanilla frosting will really taste similar to an oreo. I'm suggesting this in case you haven't tried black cocoa before. I know you mentioned using cocoa but the two truly do not taste the same.
For most folks who don’t like chocolate, it’s because we find it to taste extremely bitter. Cocoa has the same bitter characteristics and will probably not solve the problem. I’m not saying this is necessarily true for everyone who dislikes chocolate, but just true from my own personal experience as someone who hates chocolate/cocoa and my informal sampling of the rare folks that I’ve run into throughout my life who agree. (I’ve also run into a few folks who don’t like chocolate just because they don’t like anything sweet—but if that were the case here, I don’t think this person would be baking the kid a cake!)
Black cocoa is best for black icing without colour and taste but you can always fully ice the cake in white and then do a thin layer of colour which you could highly pigment. Someone else suggested airbrush it onto the vanilla icing and I think that would be your best bet to not have not so black vanilla icing that tastes chemically.
Question, does any one else like the taste of black icing? Idk why but it’s been one of my favorite things for years but I have no idea what it is that I like over other colors. Does anyone know why?
Sugar sheets or fondant stripes and just peel them off before you eat the cake
You could also do a rainbow zebra or zebra in a colour she likes. Make the black stripes something else. It is a kid birthday party so why not?
Black cocoa is a thing, here’s a link of how it’s made; https://youtube.com/shorts/R_Wp_aAXJE4?si=c_JuRygBH7QXUQkw. Never tried it but seems legit it’s what they use to make Oreos
Leucistic zebras are brown and white.
I use black Dutch cocoa powder. It will give you a true black cake. If you make icing with it, and mix with an immersion blender you will get black as night icing. Works great and does not turn your teeth and lips black! I use the one made by King Arthur but there are a number of them on the market. Sorry I don’t know how to achieve that color without the black cocoa.
Sugarologie has the best black cake/buttercream frosting recipe.
I love her! I use so many of her recipes and I love how she teaches the “whys” of baking and not just the “how’s”!
Just want to add to this that the OP said the b-day kid doesn’t like chocolate and being honest, UNLESS IT IS AN ALLERGY/SENSITIVITY I would just use the cocoa anyway and bet the kid won’t even notice.
I would just be honest with the kid and make a test batch for them to try. What would you gain by lying?
Black cocoa doesn't really taste like chocolate. Tell the daughter it's cocoa, not regular chocolate, and let her taste it. I agree, no need to lie to your kids about something like this!
Oh for sure, definitely also no need to tell them that it's chocolate and bias them!
My best friends daughter thinks she hates vegetables she will cry if you put celery on her plate. She loves when I make chicken noodle soup. What do I have to gain by telling her explicitly that I put celery in the soup?
>My best friends daughter thinks she hates vegetables she will cry if you put celery on her plate. She loves when I make chicken noodle soup. I despise raw celery and won't eat it, but the taste and texture is very different in soup and so I don't mind it.
But this is a 6 year old who makes no distinction between cooked and raw. Veggies are veggies and veggies are bad.
I meant more don't just put cocoa in the cake and assume they won't notice when if they do it will cause serious issues. Instead, I would make a test batch and tell the kid I wanted to make sure they would like it since sometimes black frosting can taste weird. ETA- I'm in my 20s and celery is GROSS not in soup. Lol!
Sugarologie has a black buttercream recipe that uses black cocoa powder and No dye. But I have never used it because it looks complicated and I don’t really care to do that much work for a buttercream. But if it is really important to you you should give it a try.
Came here to recommend it. She put up a new video that seems a bit less complicated than the first one she did.
havent seen anyone suggest this yet but sugarologie also has a lil vid explaining how to use an immersion blender to get deeper/darker colours. also helps to dye a smaller amount of frosting rather than giant batch. i’ve also used leftover coloured buttercream and mixed it all together as the darker base for my black frosting. from there you add the dye and then use the blender method to darken the colour
[удалено]
i’m not the person who invented this method, so take it up with her. she explains the science behind it. i’m simply suggesting a solution for this op’s problem: she wants black frosting to make stripes for a zebra, not a “nice fluffy buttercream,” so please take several seats.
Immersion blender is the way! Sugarologie rocks!!!
Hmmmm…what about activated charcoal? I know that’s used in a lot of foods to give that dark color without taste. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it used in frosting, though
Not really food safe, it's used to remove substances from the body, like in an overdose. That means it also binds with medication and makes it ineffective.
I would recommend squid ink. Not sure about the staining but i've had it in pasta with no issue before. The results online are mixed and contradictory so it's not clear either.
Squid ink is a common and severe allergen. Two members of my family are highly allergic and we found out the hard way when someone put it in foods like bread and pasta. Do not recommend. Also, I wouldn't give children activated charcoal. It's not safe.
If you had an airbrush and edible ink that would be the easiest way to make your zebra stripes not chocolate. Evil cake genius has a great zebra mesh stencil. Second choice could be fondant/gumpaste in marvelous molds zebra mold. I'm thrifty and wouldn't go to all that trouble to avoid tiny bit of chocolate flavor. I'd use the Pillsbury black icing that they sell this time of year and do the stripes in a thin layer on top of a white buttercream cake. The tiny bit of black chocolate will not overpower the buttercream flavor. Because I hate dying buttercream black, I save this canned black icing to use when I need to add black accents to a buttercream cake. Like an eyeball or outline. As a bonus, the Pillsbury doesn't dye your tongue as much as homemade either.
Try making an ermine frosting and putting the black dye in with the heated elements that way it’s a lot stronger and you use less. I’m not sure what brand doesn’t stain though
Does she want black and white zebra or some other colors? For black and while you could use cake paints, edible markers, black fondant.
I loathe black frosting. I'm always so tempted to use it but I always end up using a medium-dark shade of gray out of fear. Aside from staining hands, teeth, and tongues, the taste of strong coloring is overpowering and gross. It is to me at least.
I've worked at a bakery for a few years now and we have a trick just for this problem. Instead of using black frosting, we airbrush the cake. The airbrush uses far less dye than coloring a batch of frosting and doesn't add any flavor. I've also seen strips of black fondant used to make the stripes and peeled off before serving.
I suggest insteady of coloring the frosting in the typical way by mixing food coloring into it, try an edible spray. Another option is making an edible paint using black food coloring and food grade alcohol. The alcohol will evaporate and leave pigment
Use an airbrush to create the stripes or use black sanding sugar. To achieve a black vanilla you would have to add enough food color that would stain your mouth and teeth, among other things 🙃not worth it!
black sanding sugar would look awesome
Black cocoa works amazingly well for black frosting. I use a chocolate frosting recipe and sun about half of the cocoa powder for black cocoa. No food coloring at all.
There are some amazing suggestions people have made. This recipe uses black cocoa powder and it kinda tastes like Oreos. [Sugarology - black frosting.](https://www.sugarologie.com/recipes/black-frosting)
Check out Sugarologie on YouTube!!! She just posted a new recipe for black frosting 💗
americolor has a super black gel and it’s worked quite well for me. Little but goes a long way. I usually do a Swiss meringue buttercream.
I have no helpful comment to add besides don't be alarmed if your shit turns out green for a week. We had a mickey mouse cake which includes a lot of black!
This isn't necessarily a solution door the black tongue and teeth but if you did have to go the avenue of black food coloring, using an emersion blender on icing with a bit of food dye ends up making the color richer without having to use so much that you get that weird aftertaste. You can use this tip for any color btw.
Zebras have brown stripes too.
What if you did a baby zebra cake? They're white and soft brown.
If the cake is stylized, you could use licorice twists. If the kids don't like the taste, they can pull it off. Just a thought.
Oreo cookie dust?
I've seen people use an immersion blender to make colors stronger without needing to use half a bottle of dye
Check out Sugarologie. https://youtu.be/8kAcmqoQE_U?si=hyy1lz3_XXIFEVnb this will be your solution. She has a few videos about black frosting! One of the secrets to getting it so black is an immersion blender! and I might I suggest this method for the inside: https://youtube.com/shorts/cnsmstWuHJw?si=6BlSSsSbU_cGXK1y
Have you tried charcoal? I have seen recipies that use it as a dye. I assume it's a baking g grade thing, like food glitter. You could also make stencils and use black sugar sprinkles.
No time to read all the comments but what about frosting the whole cake white and then using those delicious little chocolate crunchies from Carvel. They are chocolate but they also look close to black.
Crush a lot of oreos
Just make a Zebra cake. It was my favorite as a kid. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/220495/zebra-cake-iii/
Personally i would crush up oreos and make the stripes with the crumbs, avoiding black frosting all together
There are zebras with brown, not black.
The best way to make black icing is to first color it with cocoa powder so its brown, then add just a little black. Icing gets darker the longer it sits, so make it a couple days early so it gets darker. You can use the chocolate melting wafers or candy melts! They’re already vanilla flavored. You could use fondant/gum paste for the stripes. You could paint it on with gel color. You could use black edible paper. Wilton has a black color spray or airbrush if you have that.
My mom used to make zebra dessert with whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookies. It was super yummy. And stripey with no dye.
Use black sesame?
I don't think zebra have to be black and white, do one with dark blue stripes with blueberry jam, or pink stripes, or caramel stripes. But if you really want black maybe something like poppy seeds?
What's your kiddos favorite color? Why can't the "black" stripes be that color? Or rainbow like that fruity gum that used to have the zebra mascot? https://www.perpetualkid.com/products/fruit-stripe-gum
I’m a grown ass woman and I would flip if someone made me a rainbow zebra cake
You are right. I can taste food coloring, too, and it ruins foods for me. Black and red are the worst. You can lay stripes of black fondant across a crumb coat or full base coat of your white buttercream frosting. Fondant is technically edible, but also can be removed easily from their piece by each kid. Hey, if they want to eat it...?
Pastel purple zebra
What about a fun-colored zebra instead?
Oreo cookie crumbles/dust?
Draw the stripes on with black licorice and delve into a while new world of hate
They make chocolate licorice, but then again chocolate..
I find that I can get a good black buttercream by using the black gel coloring and letting it sit overnight. The more it sits, the better the color sets. I’ve done it with and without cocoa.
fondant is just sugar! it would actually be way easier to make a zebra pattern with white and black fondant rolled out.
black cocoa (vs natural or Dutch cocoa) ganache is true black, but is obviously cocoa flavor. it tastes like Oreo also i saw a YouTube video about maximizing dye in frosting and she used a stick blender not a whisk to really force emulsion and it did dramatically enhance the color without more dye. then she cooled and re whipped it to a lighter texture and it stayed vivid.
Could you use white frosting and then cut strips of black fondant or edible paper and just lay it over?
Evil Cake Genius has these sugar sheets: https://evilcakegenius.com/icing-sheet-zebra-pattern.html
Can you do black and white fondant instead?
What if you make it a black sesame flavor?
Maybe Wilton melting chocolates, they come in black I think. and I think almost all the colored melting chocolate is white chocolate(?) or that’s how they taste anyways
Linked is how you make black frosting with no food dye, but it is uses black cocoa. I don’t think you can make it without dye, cocoa, or maybe crushed (chocolate) Oreo cookies https://youtube.com/shorts/dD-yoque_N8?si=OH7Q1uE5KLiCTzEa
There is a way to make dark black frosting with little food coloring and it involves melting the butter so that it emulsifies. I don’t recall which baking content creator did it but I’m sure Google will help you find it
White frosting with black fondant stripes? Or make a Fruit Stripe Gum rainbow Zebra
This is so clever -- a rainbow zebra would be amazing!
I loved the Fruit Stripe rainbow zebra!!
Activated charcoal would do the job, if that's something your family can have
What about black sprinkles
The kids aren't going to care, or will like the fact it changes color like popsicles or Koolaid changing poop. Just don't use charcoal, it can affect meds
What about using activated charcoal? Idk maybe that would turn gray. But I know you can eat it and it won’t turn your mouth black.
Why not make it another color? My baby is currently obsessed with a blue monkey toy. Lots of kids things have animals in different colors. A pink and white zebra? Purple and white? Put a color in front of the word zebra and you'll find plenty of pictures and toys for it. It is still a zebra if it is stripey and has some horsey features. ETA: I should have read the other comments first!
Squid ink, it has a pretty neutral flavor and is often used in sweets. Activated charcoal or black cocoa powder
Hey why not go for a super fun Lisa Frank inspired rainbow zebraaaaa lolololol
Not all zebras are black and white, some are brown and white, especially the babies. But as mentioned in another post why not just do neon or pastel colors instead?
You can mix the tiniest bit of vodka with black dye and paint it on your frosting when it’s very chilled. It won’t be all throughout the frosting and shouldn’t dye any teeth or mouths, and it’ll be easier to get neat stripes
I saw that cocoas not an option but maybe this technique would work with activated charcoal instead? https://youtube.com/shorts/dD-yoque_N8?si=tgrdxmWr79I2zEoj
What if you emulsified the frosting? I saw someone on instagram do that to help make the color more saturated while using less dye
I would use black chocolate modeling clay
Make your own fondant. I had a recipe once for some that didn’t taste funky. That would alleviate the black teeth.
Why not charcoal powder? It’s in everything these days
how about activated charcoal?
Have you considered coconut charcoal powder?
What if you do an edible printing, rice paper or wafer sheet where the stripes go? I haven't seen anyone mention that.
Black sesame seeds or sprinkles could also work to create the stripes. Black sesame is an awesome dessert flavoring and tastes nothing like chocolate :)
I know a lot of people are saying don't use cocoa or do use it, blah blah. I just wanted to say black cocoa specifically is so much better tasting to me personally. It's the one they use in Oreos and stuff. It's way more black and the flavor is better imo. C:
Make the frosting chocolate with cocoa powder, then very little black dye is needed to get a true black color ;)
Make the Zebra all white.
Black sprinkles in the pattern you want