The other day (Thursday) I made MMF and colored it pink for my pillow and tiara cake. I assembled and decorated the cake on Friday night (finished at about midnight or so) forgetting that it was due today (Sunday) and not yesterday. Anyway, the remaining fondant which is wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and a ziploc bag was set on my dining room table and I noticed this morning that it was white. I did a double take. On the bottom there was still a bit of pink, but the rest is white again.

The cake even faded a lot. Still pink, but not nearly as dark/bright as it way yesterday. I realize that my DR is a lot sunnier with all the snow outside, but geez, I never thought this stuff (MMF) would go totally white again - and in only 1-1/2 days!

Has this happened to anyone else?

Yep, it happened to me. I made some flowers and the next day they were a lot lighter so now I keep them out of the sun.
Jacqui

Wow I had some edible images fade on me once but not fondant - that is good to know - I will keep mine out of the sun too - that would be bad if you did a outside wedding cake or something and it lost all it's color!!

Pink and purple fondant is notorious for fading--to various shades of blue, grey, or white.

What brand of color did you use? I find that Americolor doesn't fade nearly as much as Wilton. I was told that it has to do with the way the color binds with the fat in the fondant.

To keep the color as strong a possible, you need to cover it with blue or black trash bags, or a cardboard box, and keep it out of any (and every) type of light. If it will be on display in bright light for any length of time, it may still fade.

To prevent this issue, some decorators airbrush anything that needs to be pink or purple. Airbrush colors generally don't fade much, if at all.

HTH
Rae

I made extra bow loops in the hope that I could use them again (pink and purple). I got an order for the exact replica of the cake I did them for and I just went to look at them as they are in a closed dark box and they still faded to the point that I can't use them for this cake. : (

I won't be making extras using these colours again and it was just a waste of time.

It happened to me as well, the Tink cake on my photos faded to an ugly ugly light gray color in about 24 hours! I was soo sad and maaaaad! I was told that it happens when it is exposed to sun light (mine was next to a window)! Lesson learned! Sorry this happened to you too!

I went to a major fundraiser here in town and a lady had donated a cake that was a pink bubblegum color basket weave and had a big fondant/gumpaste bow on top. Everyone was oooing and ooohhhing over it, but I was standing there pointing out that the bow had faded into a really light peach color and had white splotches all over it. Her basketweave wasn't straight and the cake was lopsided. (I only pointed it out to my friend at my table, even though she agreed and suggested we grab the microphone and announce it to the world ) Granted, my cakes aren't perfect, far from it, but if you are gonna have one auctioned off for a charity, at least make sure it matches.

My instructor told us that if MMF/fondant/gumpaste is exposed to any sunlight that it will fade. Apparently that is what happened.

I totally understand your situation with your cake. The only wedding cake I have ever done I swore would be my last. The cakes were uneven, filling oozed out the sides, scrollwork looked like crap, etc. etc.

I used to cut each dowel rod one at a time instead of measuring once and cutting them all to the same length. That helped with the next layer being straight and not leaning. I also have started using straws instead of dowel rods and even though this has been blasted on here several times, I have not had any problems.

I am so sorry that you had so much trouble though. It is so heart wrenching to us because we put so much time and effort into our cake creations and when something bad happens, it is our worst nightmare.

Since the group still had cake to eat, even though it wasn't exactly what the bride ordered, you might give half off or at the very least give it to her for cost of ingredients, but I wouldn't unless she says something first.

...yep, it fades...I keep mine in boxes in the closet.

Sunlight and flourecent lighting are the main culprits!!

I was told to use petal dusts to colour fondant in pink and purple. It works well and doesn't fade much at all, in fact I have a display cake that I made nearly a year ago, that sits in my living room, uncovered and is still nice and pink.
It costs more to do, because of the price of the dusts, but for pink and purple it's worth it.

I was also told that you need to put the dust before you mix the fondant, if you make it from scratch

I actually have tin foil over my window in my cake room to prevent sunlight from coming in and fading colors on cakes. I will always do a test on a fondant color to see how it will react to sunlight. I take a small pc. of the fondant and lay it out in the sun and time it and watch it to see what happens. Some colors like pink and purple will start changing within 5 min. I always cover my cakes which have colors that will fade with black trashbags when I transport them. Believe me I have learned the hard way!

I had this happen right before a wedding show. I had made a purple cake to go with our booth theme. Well, two days before the show, I realized that 1/2 my cake was baby blue instead of purple. So I did the only thing I could, turn it around and bleach the other side to match

Now I bought Americolour No Fade Purple...

I have had my fondant fade on me but never back to white!!!!

The cake I am working on for this next weekend's show has faded quite a bit. It is not the same color I started out with. I have kept my cake in my spare bedroom which I keep dark for fading purposes but with my recessed lighting in my kitchen it's going to fade over time.


Amy

Yup. The diamond cake in my pics is the third one that was made because the purple kept fading to an ugly blue gray color. I switched to Americolor, and even over a year later, it's still the same lavender color that it is supposed to be. Needless to say, I'm sold 100% on Americolor- it's all I use anymore.

I made a bunch of light pink MMF flowers for my best friends birthday cake. They were going to be cherry blossoms but when I checked on how they were drying the next day they were white. I figured that it was because i had them sitting near a sunny window and they got bleached.

Weird, I used a combo on Americolor Lavender and Hot Pink to create the color I needed for my cake and it is no where near the shade I began with. My cake (all styro btw) has been covered for over a month and the color has just faded no matter what I do to keep light off of it.


Amy

I too find some colours fade a bit and generally have found americolour to be great. Having said this I did a cake last new years eve and it was fondant for the top cake then cupcakes with buttercream icing on the lower tiers. They were a lovely pink and coffee colour combination when I finished but faded overnight to a sad peach colour. They were boxed out of light. I haven't had this happen to such a degree before and just thought it must be a bad batch?
I gave my bride a big discount and apologised a lot. She was lovely and still thought it was wounderful but I knew what it should have been like.
I think i've attached a picture but maybe not? Still new to all this. And yes thats how we spell colour in NZ.
Anyway i'm going to have to try some of the great suggestions.
Thanks Claire

I don't understand how everyone has trouble with fading... I made 2 batches of MMF and both of them got VERY DARK not light... I use Wilton and the liquid colors from the grocery store, kneading the colors in...
What am I doing differently that I get such a different result?

I use Americolour and Sugarflair paste colours and I've never had a problem with fading.

Perhaps some colour brands are more concentrated than others?

I use Americolor and have had fading problems, but only on violet & electric pink. The other colors seem to be ok.

I made a 3-Tier mini cake and finished it in the morning. I left it sitting on the counter and by dinner time the back was almost white...a lesson learned.