Red Writing Bleeding Into White Icing! ?????
Decorating By patticakesnc Updated 2 Dec 2006 , 1:06pm by 2sdae
How do you keep the colors from bleeding into the white icing? I did a little simple cake for my moms birthday today. Well I did it last night, and today I went to look at it and where I wrote Happy Birthday in red it has bled into the white around it.
Any tips on why this happens and how to avoid it? The red roses did not bleed or the green leaves. I'm all confused.
Was the red icing that you wrote with thinned down with anything? That may have an effect. Once I thinned down black icing to write with using some water and that bled while the other decorations I did with the thicker icing didn't.
Also, what brand of coloring did you use? I have noticed that Americolor Super Black (which is GREAT) seems to not bleed at all for me and that is all I will use for black now. I figured that out the hard way after using Wilton black (as described above) and had bloodshot/purple black eyes on some Cookie Monster cupcakes I made.
I used wilton gel for the coloring. I did not thin it out any. I used it for my roses and the writing in the same consistancy. I am thinking more about it and i used a hot wet knife to smooth my buttercream, I bet it was still wet when I wrote on it.
I had the exact same thing happen to me. I did an Elmo cake one night, and the next morning, the red swirls had bled into the white. The blue and yellow did not bleed at all, just the red. I was at a loss too because this was the first time this had happened to me. I just carefully chipped off the red that bled and hoped that no one noticed.
I have realized that adding meringue powder actually helps hold the color and prevent the bleeding for me.
Hope that helps!
Angie
I have a green and red fantasy rose garden cake in my gallery. On the green frosting (using straight Americolor in BC with meringue) I piped white "thorns". And by the time I delivered it to the recipient the green leached into the white thorns......
Since I couldn't figure out how to keep it from happening so I just sent a note to self: Never do that again.......... 
It is really odd, I did my daughters cake in my photos and wrote in red and it did not do this. I think it may be the buttercream recipe I used. For those of you who had this happen what type buttercream did you use? Before I used a butter buttercream. This time I tried the butterless buttercream. I am wondering if this is the difference with the two. Since it is just crisco rather than butter.
I used all crisco icing, no butter. I was thinking that it may have been the way I covered the cake. It was a pretty tall cake so the cake box would not close. So, I closed the lid as much as possible then taped the sides and put plastic wrap around the front. The side that was towards the plastic wrap bled, but the side that was facing the back of the cake box did not bleed. Could it have had something to do with condensation and the plastic wrap? Strange, very strange.
Patticakesnc, did you cover your cake too, or did you leave it out?
Well, I did cover it. But I had frozen the cake prior to doing it since I used half of it to make cake balls. But before I went to bed I put it in the cake carrier.
I used the butterless though and I did not have this happen with the butter. I also crusted my other one in the fridge and viva'd it prior to writing on it. Maybe that had something to do with it to because this one I just frosted threw a couple roses on there and wrote on it. I know that sounds horrible being it is for my mom, but it was very very late and I was very very tired!
See here is what happend to her cake.... 
The green did bleed too, I didn't think it had.
So, if I am reading everything correctly, everyone that this has happened to has used all butterless icing. So is adding butter the key? 
Maybe the all crisco icing is too greasy and therefore causes the darker colors to run. 
I'm wondering if I should use butter from now on.
I never have used butter in my white icing and this hasn't ever happened to me. I know that you have to use a lot of red gel to get a good bright shade, and that can really thin your icing down. I use a lot less now cause it darkens when it dries anyway.
jstritt
Thank you so much. Looking at your cakes that is a great compliment. I am still only a couple months into decorating (homeschooling myself) and I saw boarders like this so this was my first attempt at it.
Ok Kelly, now I am confused. I thought we had this thing figured out LOL. Do you do anything different? Do you put it in the fridge first or anything? I know the red thinned it but I used more sugar to thicken it back up. It was not thin when I used it. I wonder too, it was really warm in the house last night. Maybe just maybe being covered it make it too warm in the container.
I worked in a grocery store bakery once and they of course use shortening not butter. The cakes always bled past day 1 or 2. I'm wondering if butter is the trick. I use butter or 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening and never had bleeding, although, always freaked out that I would. Hmm..I wonder if it is the butter.
I have noticed if I cover my cakes they sweat, maybe that is what happened.
I never cover my cakes, and they do just fine. Maybe it was condensation. Sorry girls just trying to help. I have used red several times for writing and borders, and it hasn't ever bled. I have used red no taste from Wilton and the Americolor reds. I am still at a loss for an answer.
I think I am going to go with the covering-condensation theory.
So if that is the secret, then do you leave a cake with red uncovered in the fridge (assuming it has a perishable filling that has to be refrigerated?)
Will the cake not absorb strange odors or dry up from being in there?
I haven't used many different fillings but would like to branch out and just wanted to know in case this ever comes up.
Man, who would have every thought there were so many little tricks to cake decorating. This should be a sport or something. If ping pong can be a sport, then so should cake decorating.
Would it be in the summer olympics or winter olympics?
I think I need to go home and get some sleep.
2sdae did you use shortening in your fondant? We may really be on to something here.
On a happy note though! I just came back from dinner with the family for Momma. She LOVED the cake. (momma always loves it though). But the cake was chocolate cake with almond butterless buttercream icing.
Also I made cake balls. I did them with the chocolate cake and made three kinds:
1. Chocolate cake, peanut butter binder, chopped peanuts (ice cream topping peanuts), dipped in chocolate with peanuts on top.
2. Chocolate cake, marshmallow fluff binder, chopped walnuts, dipped in chocolate and topped with a walnut half.
3. Chocolate cake, caramel praline liquid creamer binder, dipped in chocolate.
(again my neice who hates cake could not get enough of the #3 cake balls).
So all's well that ends well. Although I still hate that the red bled all over the cake....but it tasted great!
Well, one thing I found out last night doing my Christmas tree cake for a party-I wanted to sprinkle some clear sprinkles on it and they kept "bouncing" off because the BC was already crusted. So, I thought, get a spray bottle of water and spray the cake a little so the sprinkles would stick. I had green BC and red, blue, purple, and yellow royal icing stars. Spraying with water was NOT a good idea because it made the colors-especially red-run. I didn't spray a lot (thank goodness) so it didn't look too bad. I got a paper towel and tried to soak up some of the excess water. So, water is one of the factors in colors running. Oh well, live and learn. 
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