How to make true red, black and navy candy coating

Why deep colors fail in white coating

Vanilla almond bark and white candy melts get their color from white pigment and milk solids. Every drop of dye you add is diluted by that white, the same way red paint stirred into white paint makes pink. You can keep adding dye, but each drop does less than the one before, and the coating runs out of room for dye before the color runs out of white.

Start from a coating that is already most of the way there

The fix is to change where you start. Colored candy melts already carry their color, and they still dip well. Start from the nearest one, then use a few drops of dye, or a little vanilla coating, to steer it.

• Vanilla almond bark, Red at 8 drops per oz
• Red candy melts, no dye

What the planner picks for four deep colors

These are real results from Coco Match’s color model for a standard set of Colour Mill dyes. The first recipe may only use vanilla and chocolate almond bark. The second may also use darker candy melts. The match score is how close the predicted color is to the target, out of 100.

True red

From almond bark alone, the closest the model gets to candy red scores 82 out of 100, and it takes about ten drops of dye per ounce to get there. Starting from red candy melts scores 93 with no dye at all. If your red melts are too bright, a little vanilla coating softens them. If they are too orange, a drop of pink or purple cools them down.

True black

Black dye in vanilla coating gives gray, then charcoal. Chocolate almond bark is a better start, but it is brown, and the model’s best black from it scores75. From black candy melts it scores 90. Dark cocoa coating is a good second choice when you can’t find black melts.

Navy

Navy is dark and blue at the same time, and no common coating is. Chocolate is dark but has no blue in it, so blue dye in chocolate turns to mud. The model’s best navy scores 73 out of 100, from a blend of vanilla with a little black candy melt and a heavy dose of purple and blue. That is a slate navy, visibly softer than an inky one. If a customer needs a true navy, tell them early, show them a test dip, or use navy for a drizzle over a lighter dip instead.

Burgundy and other dark reds

Burgundy is the friendly one. From red candy melts with purple it scores 94. From almond bark it scores 83, with dye at the limit. The same idea works for wine, maroon and oxblood: start red, then darken with purple, or blend in dark cocoa.

Working with heavy color

• Thin the coating before you color it. Heavily dyed coating runs thicker.
• Give deep colors the full 10 minutes to develop before you judge them.
• Dip deep colors last, so they don’t tint the lighter bowls.
• Tell customers that very dark coating can tint lips and teeth. They will thank you.