Red Velvet Cake Bleeding

Decorating By candycakes51 Updated 15 May 2011 , 3:27pm by candycakes51

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candycakes51 Posted 14 May 2011 , 5:28pm
post #1 of 8

I made a red velvet cake for a friend. Due to time constraints I had to make it in advance, then freeze it. It looked great when it came out of the freezer, but as it thawed out the red from the cake bled through my buttercream icing in several places. I used Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix. Has anyone else had this problem? I have not worked with red velvet much, but it is a popular flavor with many of my friends and family and I would like to learn how to prevent this from happening next time. Thanks for any suggestions.

7 replies
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staciessweets Posted 14 May 2011 , 5:58pm
post #2 of 8

That happen to me once. I think you should only use cream cheese frosting not buttercream.

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candycakes51 Posted 15 May 2011 , 2:52am
post #3 of 8

Thanks for the suggestion, Stacie

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scp1127 Posted 15 May 2011 , 4:45am
post #4 of 8

I only bake scratch cakes. But my red velvet is already so moist that a few hours in the freezer, which usually benefits most cakes, can make this particular cake almost too moist. That may have been your problem.

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cakification Posted 15 May 2011 , 5:04am
post #5 of 8

I don't necessary think that cream cheese icing would have helped...( traditional red velvet is not served with cream cheese icing).

Did you freeze the cake already iced? I have only ever made red velvet from scratch so I'm not positive, but i have a feeling it was probably because of the box mix. As the pp said, its a very moist cake anyway, so when it defrosted it may have became too moist, and maybe had some condensation which bled into the icing.

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candycakes51 Posted 15 May 2011 , 2:26pm
post #6 of 8

I did freeze the cake after I iced it and wondered if that was the problem. I had to complete the cake a few days early because of other things I had going on. I suspected that might be the problem and wondered if others had experienced the same issue. I'll skip that step next time...thanks for the advice.

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JRAE33 Posted 15 May 2011 , 3:12pm
post #7 of 8

You know, I always use DH for my red velvet and lately I've noticed red dye seeping out onto the board. I've never had that happen in the past 8 years I've been doing cakes until recently. I wonder if they changed something in their mixes? I didn't notice it bleeding through the icing, but there were small puddles of red dye under the cake..if I am making sense? I always use buttercream, and I never freeze.

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candycakes51 Posted 15 May 2011 , 3:27pm
post #8 of 8

I love DH cake mixes as well, and have frozen them in the past many times with no problems. The red velvet is new to me, wanted to try it because it seems to be the "rage" flavor these days. The cake tasted great but the bleeding problem makes me leery of trying it again for any special activities. I have made several wedding cakes for family and friends as my gifts to them and would be devastated if this were to happen on such an important cake. I guess I will have to try a scratch recipe if I do it again because I have to freeze them in order to get a cake of any size completed on time. Thanks everyone for your input. It is much appreciated.

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