re: How to achieve a "cranberry" colored icing?

You could try mixing blue and red together as you would to make purple but add more red than blue, or try starting with a rose color gel and add blue or maybe purple to it. I used Wilton rose color and added blue and purple to it to make a fushia color for a wedding cake. Here is a link to a color wheel that may help you. http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/coloring/colormixingchart.htm Good luck.