Preventing Bleeding

Decorating By klg1152 Updated 14 May 2006 , 2:24am by klg1152

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klg1152 Posted 9 May 2006 , 11:16pm
post #1 of 15

Hi all:
Have a question and of course I know I will get the answer here at CC.

I have an order for a cake this week and am going to model it after the jeans and bandana cake that was posted a few days ago. My question is this, I will be icing the top tier with red buttercream and then piping on white detail, I want to prevent as much bleeding from the red to the white. If I use white royal will that prevent bleeding? All suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
Jax

14 replies
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Crimsicle Posted 9 May 2006 , 11:17pm
post #2 of 15

I'd use crusting buttercream, for sure...and let the red crust reallly well before adding the white.

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klg1152 Posted 9 May 2006 , 11:32pm
post #3 of 15

Is crusting buttercream the same as the wilton buttercream?

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AmyBeth Posted 9 May 2006 , 11:43pm
post #4 of 15

Wilton's buttercream does crust. Their meringue powder keeps colors from bleeding.

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KimAZ Posted 10 May 2006 , 6:05am
post #5 of 15

Hi Jax,
I just did a fire truck cake with red and white buttercream. ( all crisco bc)
I made it during the day and it sat in a box, covered totally overnight but a lot of the red bled through the white details by the next morning.
I don't know how to prevent this either. Same thing happened on a cake with a blue background and yellow details. Blue seeped through and made the yellow a greenish color within a few hours.

Hoping someone can help me too.
KimAZ

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klg1152 Posted 10 May 2006 , 10:57am
post #6 of 15

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will let it crust well before I apply the white details, I think I might just apply the details at the very last minute, they are picking it up Saturday afternoon for their event Saturday evening. If anyone else has suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

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Jenn123 Posted 10 May 2006 , 11:19am
post #7 of 15

Many people use more food coloring than is necessary to get red (and black). Use enough color so that it is about 2/3 as red as you want it. It will get darker as it dries. You don't need as much as you think you do. If you are adding coloring and it isn't getting visibly darker...STOP! The icing is saturated and adding more is just waste. This could be some of your bleeding problem.

I wonder if doing the white detail in royal icing would help? Let the buttercream crust. Add royal icing and dry under a fan. This might keep the color from bleeding.

HTH

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_ChristyB_ Posted 10 May 2006 , 11:21am
post #8 of 15

Hi Kim!

Mine was the crusting buttercream and it sat at least a good hour or two before I piped the designs, but by the next day it had bleed through like KimAz said hers did. I hope you find an answer because it does make for a very pretty cake!

Christy

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Jenn123 Posted 10 May 2006 , 11:56am
post #9 of 15

A few more thoughts...

Could you do red MMF on just this layer? It probably wouldn't bleed.

If you have access to an airbrush, ice the layer white or pink and airbrush the red on. I always do this and never have a bleeding problem.

Hope you find a solution!

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_ChristyB_ Posted 10 May 2006 , 12:04pm
post #10 of 15

Jenn, you could be right, but it was the blue also that bleed into the white. I had told Kim that if I did it again, I would definately use fondant instead of buttercream. i use the americolor colors and you don't have to use so much to get the desired color, so I don't think I added too much....who knows!!

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Jenn123 Posted 10 May 2006 , 12:10pm
post #11 of 15

Was the white detail icing really wet to make it easier to squeeze? Maybe not thinning it down or adding powdered sugar would help.

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klg1152 Posted 11 May 2006 , 3:24am
post #12 of 15

What if I did the white details with candy melts, would that work? Would candy melts adhere to the buttercream?

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Jenn123 Posted 11 May 2006 , 11:31am
post #13 of 15

Maybe if you got it just the right temp. It might run on the sides or settle out of shape on the top. I've never mixed the 2.

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klg1152 Posted 11 May 2006 , 4:03pm
post #14 of 15

ok, well I am not going to do the details with buttercream for sure.

i have some cupcakes that I am decorating later today and have a few extra so I am going to try the royal once the buttercream has crusted and then also try working with the candy melts. I will let you know what happens.

Thanks for all the help.

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klg1152 Posted 14 May 2006 , 2:24am
post #15 of 15

Well I ended up icing the cake last night, let if crust over really well and then piped on the details at around 2 this afternoon. I did the white details in royal icing and there wasn't any 'bleeding' when she picked it up at around 4:30. Thanks for all the help.

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