Hi all,

This is something that happened to me a while back when I delivering and cake from my house to San Diego (2 hours away). I made a Victoria's Secret shopping bag cake, and used Americolor Electric Pink gel color to dye the fondant. When we got to the party, the cake was sun-bleached WHITE. But, only in the areas where I used the Electric Pink. The Soft Pink I used (same brand....Americolor) was fine.

I initially thought, "We'll duh...two hours under glass with the sun shining right on it....go figure."

But this morning, I was taking my Wife's birthday cake to her Mom's house for dinner tonight, and I noticed that, once again, the Electric Pink bow and Monogram "M" I made, were also starting to fade!! And this was like 20 minutes into the ride to my MIL's.

Has anyone else noticed a photosensitive trend with any other Americolor gel colors? I guess I'm gonna have to start boxing up ALL my cakes from now on! At least those with Electric Pink decorations!!

Just wondering!

Yep. I've had problems with that color and Wilton purple and pinks. Even if I keep them in the dark, they still tend to fade a bit.

I used it on my DGD cake in Oct. and didn't have problem. Maybe the sun wasn't shining that day or maybe it's the recipe. I use hiratio but I don't know if it makes a difference.

I knew this would involve a red color, as it always does when the topic is fading.

Here's the thread that explains why this happens. It started back in the 70's and has been going on for over 30 years.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-653200-red.html+dye

This is the curse of any brand of pink, red, & purple LIQUID colors--even some of the blues that lean toward the purple side. They must be kept out of fluorescent light and sunlight.

I have found that if you dry dust on some white pearl dust, it can act like sunscreen and inhibit fading.

I have used ChefMaster no-fade pink & purple and haven't noticed quick, obvious fading. Never had a cake stay around long enough to know if it fades over a long period of time.

You can prevent fading by using "pure" dry colors. Crystal Colors by Beth & Ron Parvu (sugarpaste.com) are pure dry colors and they won't fade. You can mix them into fondant and buttercream. A little goes a long way, too.

Rae

Yep, I once made a Barbie cake for my daughter's birthday, and between the time I put it in the box and an hour later when we took it out, the pink had turned lavender. I think it was the Wilton colors.