Does anyone know what these black spots are on the red icing? I made a few different colored cookies at the same time and it’s only on the red. One of them doesn’t have any, others have a lot. It looks vaguely like mold, and I don’t want people to think I’m giving them old cookies 😭 I decorated them yesterday so they’ve been drying for about 24 hours.
by ahobbins
11 Comments
Did your icing sit in the bags for a while?
Did you let the icing develop after adding the red dye? Sometimes red dye takes a while to develop and can have little specs of unincorporated dye. I usually let mine sit overnight before i bag and ice. Could be that!
Oh, this makes sense! It only sat for maybe 30 minutes in a bag before using it. Thank you!
I posted about the same thing a while back! You can go through the responses [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cookiedecorating/s/KVr1hGMpnX)
I never found an actual solution to this issue. Now when I make red, I use a combination of bright red by chefmaster (a slightly pinker red that has never given me the spots) and a few drops of super red by chefmaster to darken it to more of a true red. The Super red alone gives me spots every time no matter what I do to prevent it. And it has happened with 3 different brands so l know it’s user error 😭
It kind of looks intentional and makes the apples look more lifelike!
But I totally understand the disappointment of your work not turning out like you had intended and pictured in your mind..
It’s grease! Let your cookies sit in an airtight container for one night before starting to decorate. And get a dehumidifier.
It’s butter bleed. You need to let cookies sit a day before decorating
It could be from overmixing + butter bleed, sometimes when royal icing has been mixed too long and then mixed even longer to achieve a color it gets a chalky like texture that is more susceptible to butter bleed. I only mix my icing initially for about 3-4 mins on medium speed, and then mix in color batches by hand trying not to overwork it. I also use a tsp of corn syrup to help stay shiny and haven’t had butter bleed in awhile. I often even bake in the afternoon and decorate by evening
I have no tips or knowledge but I just wanted to say that the spots make them look more like real apples which is kinda cool <3
I think this makes it look even more “apple-y!”
It’s “realism,” if you ask me. (Seriously, I have no clue, but I think they look gorgeous.)