Yesterday I iced cookies with Antonia 74 icing that had been colored red with Wilton no taste red. After several hours of drying, they have developed dark spots all over. I know that I have seen tips posted here how to solve this and I cannot locate the posts. Can anyone help?

Oh, I am so sorry that happened! Are you talking about large areas where it is darker? I have had that happen and I saw where someone suggested it was the butter 'creeping' through. I did find it happened when I tried to dry mine too quickly under a heat lamp (especially with dark colors). Sometimes it went away, sometimes not. If not, I piped a design over that area, but unfortunately it would depend on the design you are doing.

So that would be my guess if it was big splotches. I did see where others mentioned that it sometimes happened to them with darker colors where they used a lot of coloring and the suggestion was to pull back on the amount of coloring used. Unfortunately, I don't remember the posting, but I am sure someone else can jump in with a more info.

If it helps, here is what I do with red - First I mix pink, then add Americolor Super Red, but don't go too terribly deep with the color. Cover and let it sit overnight and the color will deepen. This really helps me. Again, so sorry it happened!

Hi again! I thought maybe someone might jump in with the link you are looking for. A thought if nobody does is to do submit this question again with a titile like "Help! Dark spots on my dried RI!" Okay, maybe not quite that dramatic, but addressing the dark spots in the title might cause someone who knows the answer to open it and give a hand. Just a thought if it helps!

Tracy thanks for the help and I will try posting again with a new title. Thanks so much for the advice. After reading several other posts, I think maybe I should have mixed my red a day in advance.

Lisa - I have had the very same thing happen to my cookies on way too many occasions. I have asked about it and received many different ideas as to why this is happening. But to this day, I still don't know why it happens. Hopefully, your entire cookie will turn the dark color so there aren't any splotches or spots. This just happened to me a couple of days ago when I was doing a sample champagne bottle for a rehearsal dinner. Overnight, the green got darker in areas, but after several more hours all of the green was the darker color. I have been trying to mix my colors more carefully and I clean my mixer, bowl and beater with a strong vinegar solution, then rinse with water to get rid of any possible grease residue. I bake my cookies until they are slightly brown around the edges to make sure they are completely done. I hope that we can figure out this problem, because it has haunted me since I started making cookies. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help to you, but hopefully something will come up. Good luck with your cookies!