Yes, it is that frustrating! I have to say, red is the most difficult color to achieve with fondant, and frosting (aside from turning pure white into black) . Well, i think i have finally mastered it somewhat, and want to share some tips.
1) always start with a no-taste red, because red has a nasty aftertaste when you use a lot. You can fill in with deeper reds later.
2) give it time to develop. In this case, patience is definitely a virtue. Wrap the fondant in saran wrap a couple times and let it sit overnight. or at least a couple hours.
3) A little black goes along way! You can deepen the red with some black, but don’t add too much. I did, and then i had to compensate with more red…. sigh.
4) Heavily colored fondant gets sticky, so use veg. shortening on your hands and surface. It will help get the red color off the table too. ( more life experience 
)
* I always use gel coloring
The finished product!
Filed under: food | Tagged: red fondant
Looks nice.
I have to cover an entire cake in red fondant.
Did you make your own? What brand of paste would you recommend using?
I really don’t want it to taste awful.
Thanks
Hi Maureen!
I reccommend satin ice because it is supposed to taste great and you can get it pre-coloured. I use Golda’s kitchen brand fondant, and use wilton’s no taste red to colour it. It takes a little bit to deepen, so make sure you let it rest for a while right before you think you’ve got the shade you are going for.
Best of luck!!
a friend told me you can add a little pink color before adding red,but i have not tried it.