Have I really changed my mind about this KEY step in mixing dye free icing?

I've been wanting to write about this for a while, it was finally time.

I received a message last week on Instagram, it read “Hi there! I just got your color mixing guide and I noticed you now recommend hydrating the color before adding to the icing, whereas in your decorating guide you said you preferred not pre-dissolving. Has your opinion changed about it?”

This wonderful lady was right, in my Dye Free Decorators Guide I said I preferred to add the powder directly to the icing. In my new Dye Free Color Mixing Guide I laid out all the ratios and recommended hydrating the powder with a few drops of distilled water.

So what gives? Have I really changed my mind about hydrating vs not hydrating the powders?

I am going to be 100% honest with you - I still prefer adding powder directly to icing. But that’s mostly because it’s not often that I am trying to achieve a VERY SPECIFIC color for a set. I am fortunate enough to get many orders for custom cookies where I simply need to get colors within a certain range. This affords me the ‘luxury’ of not needing to be ultra specific with my color mixing.

Not hydrating the powders takes out an extra step for me, which makes color mixing a little quicker.

That being said, adding a few drops of (distilled) water to your powders prior to mixing into icing has some perks too;

• The ‘liquid’ mixes in easier with the icing.

• There’s less speckles left behind to re-mix.

• You get a better idea of the final color of the icing - it still definitely has to develop, but you get a better idea of whether more color is needed or not.

The reason that I never recommended hydrating powders prior to the release of my color mixing guide is two fold.

The first and most simple reason is because, while hydrating leaves behind less speckles, after leaving your icing to develop, you need to remix it anyway. As I mentioned, not hydrating means one less step. If you need to mix your icing the next day before bagging, it’s pretty quick to work those speckles in.

The second reason I didn’t previously advocate to hydrate your powders is because of the added liquid component. More than half of cookie decorators (probably more if you’re new), start with icing that isn’t stiff enough. Partly because they don’t whip the icing enough and partly because they add too much water initially. Not hydrating the powders can preserve the structural integrity of the icing - when it’s lacking in the first place.

The reason I decided to recommend hydrating the powders in my guide was simply to give a more clear visual marker for those mixing icing. And really to have a standard or uniformity of sorts. I give my Franken-frosting recipe in the guide, which mixes to stiff consistency. It is the perfect structural base for a ‘liquid’ color to be added to. This way you get the rich color profiles from the powder colors, and the ease of liquid colors because you’re hydrating them.

I think now more than ever, that you need to find the method that works for YOU. Don’t be afraid to try both ways and see what you prefer. I would love to hear in the comments what works for you? Have you tried both methods and really love one more than the other? I would love to know your thoughts 💭