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Dark colored buttercream questions!!!! Can anyone advise?

post #1 of 6
9/29/11 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 

Lately I've been running into a wierd problem with dark buttercream colors, such as red.  Having to do more ethnic cakes, like Indian designs, for customers.  When doing a wedding cake with white buttercream, and the design/detail is in a dark color like red- I'm having problems with the color running as the cake sits out during the reception at catering hall. 

Any thoughts???  Any fixes for this?  It seems to have to do with the condensation that forms as the cold cake returns to room temp...

Appreciate any input!!  Thanks!!

carol

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post #2 of 6
10/1/11 at 12:04pm

What type of buttercream are you using - Italian meringue?

What type of coloring are you using - liquid, gel, paste, powder?

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post #3 of 6
10/3/11 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 

Using gel paste colors; the buttercream is one based on the old-fashioned bakery-type recipe using fondant & shortening, mostly.  (i know, ick. but my customer requested that.)  I am more used to working with Italian meringue based buttercream, and have never experienced these kind of problems with it.  I'm still thinking that the issue might be more about temperatures than anything else?  what do you think?

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post #4 of 6
10/3/11 at 1:51pm

Most  pastry chefs I worked with would sooner keep their products in an air conditioned room instead of a fridge. I  especilly remember pettite fours condensating but not wedding cakes, they were made using a heated and poured fondant  only. I also believe temps are the culprit.

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post #5 of 6
10/5/11 at 10:51am

I agree that the condensation from the temperature change is probably the main problem, though I wouldn't rule out the shortening based icing contributing. I'm thinking that in real buttercream the sugar is fully dissolved in a syrup before incorporating the fat, where in the shorting "buttercream" there are (very tiny) undissolved sugar crystals that could pull moisture from the environment which might cause the colors to migrate. That's my theory anyway.

 

I prefer to avoid refrigerating cakes both for the condensation issue and because chilling speeds up the staling process. If you really need to chill in order to set the icing, I would only leave it in the cooler just long enough to get the outside firm without chilling all the way through. 

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post #6 of 6
10/6/11 at 9:55pm

Just some guesses... Could it be that your icing may be too saturated with colour? I personally find that when colouring an icing from white to a red or dark colour, there is a point during mixing where no matter how much colour is added, the icing does not visually appear any darker. This is the point that I refer to as icing being saturated, and that extra colour has a tendency to seep out. Before the saturation point, I find if I give the colour a few minutes to "develop" - that is, the surface of the icing to evaporate - the colour will darken.

 

Other things that might be contributing is the icing separating from the warmth of your hands while in the piping bag, thus losing the icing emulsion that holds your colour in.

 

If you need to store your cake in the cooler, another thing that may help is keeping the cake boxed - and keeping that box within a sealed plastic bag. This helps the surface of the cake from being exposed to drastic temperature changes and possible moist cooler air.

 

 

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