Wilton Color Mist Food Color Spray: Review

Last night I used the Wilton Color Mist Food Color Spray (black) on a fondant covered cake.  My fondant was tinted dark brown (was using up some old stuff from a previous project).  I have to say I was pretty disappointed.  I thought the spray would be a good alternative to spending hundreds of dollars on airbrush equipment.  What I got was weak color and a lot of fumes.  I had put my cake inside a cardboard box lined with a white trashbag.  The trashbag got very little coloring on it, the heaviest parts were light gray at best.  After using almost the entire can, the cake just looked to be a darker brown (similar to dark chocolate).  I really thought I would use this like spray paint, but instead I got about 10% of what I expected.

Before

After

I would like to try this stuff again, but with new set expectations.  I can't use this stuff for full opaque coloring, but I would very much like to try it for highlighting and adding depth to other colors.

I did a search to see what the interwebz said about this stuff:

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/coloring/canned.htm

Edible Food Coloring NEW & IMPROVED!  in a Aerosol can. Shake can, hold at a 45 degree angle, spray 6-8" away from item. One can covers more than a dozen 8" cakes plus dozens of cookies, sugar and fabric. This is a wide spray; if a thin line is required use stencils.

More than a dozen 8" cakes, hmm?  Perhaps I'm not spraying close enough.  I was about 8" away.  I found a few reviews by an obvious plant, Freak369, who suggests spraying it on cardboard and different distances for the desired color control.

http://www.candylandcrafts.com/colormistfoodspray.htm

One can will cover approx. (6) 8" round cakes, (4) 9" X 13" cakes or (4) dozen cupcakes