Edible Marker Bleed/Smear

Hi Karla,

Could it be that the edible marker was too runny, giving the black a chance to spread? Did you store the sealed cookies at the same temperature? Maybe it was sweating too? I had a similar problem once when I put too much syrup in the royal icing. But with the amount you give, that shouldn't be the reason. Many artists use syrup for royal icing. It's all just guesswork, but maybe it will still help you?  @Karla

When you heat-seal, you seal in any residual moisture. So if your icing wasn't completely dry, it would take even longer to dry, giving the marker more opportunity to penetrate the icing. It could be you also nicked the icing with the marker.

I almost always had smearing issues when I bagged cookies with edible marker. The best solution I found was to brush the cookie (after drying) with some powdered sugar to help set the marker. Same thing with painted cookies. Unfortunately, it does make the colors slightly more subdued, but it always prevented smearing for me.

@Icingsugarkeks posted:

Hi Karla,

Could it be that the edible marker was too runny, giving the black a chance to spread? Did you store the sealed cookies at the same temperature? Maybe it was sweating too? I had a similar problem once when I put too much syrup in the royal icing. But with the amount you give, that shouldn't be the reason. Many artists use syrup for royal icing. It's all just guesswork, but maybe it will still help you?  @Karla

It is possible that it was sweating. I may try to recreate the circumstances to determine if that was the culprit.  I appreciate your reply.

@Julia M. Usher posted:

When you heat-seal, you seal in any residual moisture. So if your icing wasn't completely dry, it would take even longer to dry, giving the marker more opportunity to penetrate the icing. It could be you also nicked the icing with the marker.

I very much appreciate the time you have taken to reply to my query.

Nicking the icing is a definite possibility. I have done that before and there has been a tiny bit of bleeding in the immediate area but not the spread that I saw this time.  It's certainly a possibility and something to which I will pay more attention in the future.

Do you have any further advice as to how to avoid nicks? 

@Aproned Artist posted:

I almost always had smearing issues when I bagged cookies with edible marker. The best solution I found was to brush the cookie (after drying) with some powdered sugar to help set the marker. Same thing with painted cookies. Unfortunately, it does make the colors slightly more subdued, but it always prevented smearing for me.

I never would have thought to use powdered sugar.  I would gladly accept some muted color in exchange for an intact cookie!

Thank you kindly for your reply.

Try dusting them with a cornstarch slug! Yes it’s a real thing!

I will have to try the cornstarch trick for the next set of cookies that I make.  Thanks!