this has happened to me twice so far. the first time was a castle cake.i made really dark grey fandant/gumpaste towers and some of them turned purple on one side. i thought it was from the sunlight in the window. this time i have a princess cake due tomarow and i made a shoe purse etc to match the decorations. the curtains were closed so they weren't in any direct sunlight, but all the purple details turned blue! the pink might be a shade or two lighter, not sure. they don't look bad, but that's not what they are suposed o look like. i can't figure out what hapened. i used the wilton food color in the little jars. actually for the purple i mixeddsome blue and pink. the leftoer purple fondant was wrapped in sarran wrap in a ziploc bag and one cornor of it also turned blue. i am considering redoing the decorations but if hey're just going to turn blue again tomarow i will be sooo mad

colours develop as they are left. maybe the colours are developing, and if you used more of one colour like the blue, it develops stronger, and you lose the pinkness? just a wild guess!
xx

I found Wilton paste gel will changes easily. I use Americolors...have no issues with color changing.

Jen

Pinks, blues, & purples change the most when exposed to ANY light--natural, neon, fluorescent, etc.

I've purchased Chef Master No-Fade Pink & Purple and had much better luck with colors remaining truer for longer.

HTH
Rae

Blakescakes that is some wonderful information!!! Where can I get them from?

I think I got it from fondantsource.com

If you google chef master food colors, I think you can find other sources.

Rae

The red shades often fade, even in regular lighting. Brown turns greenish, purple turns blue, pink fades.

I am glad for the ideas becasue I have had the same problem with pruple and pink fondant. I also have a problem with purple buttercream developing blue spots after I ice a cake. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!

i never had colors Fade on me till last fall when the pink shade faded. in fact i've always had them darken for me. i sure hope its not some change in formula *sigh*

Pretty much every time I use Wilton's violet paste, I get specks of blue. I just don't use it on anything important anymore. Americolor is far superior.

most red FD&C colours are notorious for fading if they're not in an acidic media. Buttercream is slightly acidic, I believe - fat has an acidic pH, sugar is neutral, so buttercream is likely below 7. Fondant, I would guess, is likely neutral or maybe even a wee bit above 7, which would promote fading with a lot of the FD&C colours.

Blues, however, are the opposite. So, when you put purple into a neutral or slightly basic environment, you're more likely, I would guess, to get noticeable fading - in part because the red fades and in part because the blue 'pops'. I had a fondant covered dummy fade overnight from purple to blue - in the dark! The red saturation level in purple is usually quite low too, relative to the blue.

There are lots of factors at work, obviously, pH is just one. Type of dye used, and the saturation level, are also going to affect how long it takes a colour to fade.

Instead of remaking your decorations, paint them with a mix of color and vodka, or color and clear vanilla extract. That usually won't fade, and it gives a really nice, smooth look.