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How to make black icing
Buy or make your icing.
Unless your heart is set on vanilla, go with a chocolate icing. Starting with a brown-colored icing means you have to use less dye to achieve a black hue.
You can still start with a white icing, but you will probably have to add flavoring later to cover the bitterness of the dye. You can dye most icing--including buttercream, cream cheese, or royal icing--black by following these instructions.