Coloring Buttercream

I have not been successful with getting the vibrant colors that you have photographed in your books, but I am not giving up. How do you acheive such great color with Kaye's buttercream?

It is difficult to create vibrant colors using Kaye's Buttercream. Although Kaye's is far superior in taste we use House buttercream when mixing rich or neon colors. There are a few things at play:
1) Kaye's buttercream is made with all butter which gives it a creamy tint. This slightly mutes the color, i.e. blue might have a greenish tint.
2) I have found that Kaye's buttercream is great for pastel colors, but once large quantities of colorant are added the color tends to bead up and not fully incorporate into the buttercream.
3) The high-ration shortening in the House Buttercream allows for absorption of liquid and colorant. It also has a pure white base which allows for a purity of color.

At the bakery, because we always have both buttercreams available, we crumb coat with the Kaye's (for flavor) and do the final coat of icing (if colored) with the House. Sometimes we mix equal parts of the two buttercreams which gives us the best of both worlds (we use this concoction to make our roses).