Cake Painting 101

It was a busy wedding weekend when I rushed in with a gold fondant cake decorated with red fondant drapes (some like to call them swags but I like to call them drapes).  My heart sank when I saw the entire venue was decorated in the colors of maroon, burgundy, and wine.  Any of those colors would have worked, but not red!  Lesson number #234 - always get an actual color reference from the couple.  Ok so now that the cake was finished, delivered, and set up with flowers, I had a couple hours to drive back home, deliver another wedding cake to another town, pick up the right luster dust color from my cake store (Every Baking Moment in Dixon), head back to this cake, and repaint the drapes right.  Let's just say it was a wee bit stressful!!  But the good news is the cake's new paint job was done and I ducked out of the venue just as the guest began filtering in.  So on a positive note it was my inspiration for this blog post:)!

And before we start the picture on the right shows the mold I created for the border.  Very simple!  I bought the mold material at Michael's and the wood scrolls at the Home Depot hardware store.  I like to use gumpaste for these molds.  But before we digress too much further... here is a 3 step guide for how to paint gumpaste or fondant on a cake using luster dusts:

Painting Fondant or Gumpaste with Luster Dust

Materials

Luster Dust

Vodka

Very small container for mixing

Paint brush

Fondant or gumpaste to paint

Step 1. 

Pour some luster dust into the small container.  Start with just a little first to see how much you will need.

Step 2. 

Put a few drops of vodka in with the luster dust to make it into a workable liquid.  I like to store my cake vodka in a jar with a medicine dropper.  Add a drop at a time, if you overdo it it will make your 'paint' too 'watery' and you may have to pour some out.

Step 3.

Mix up your paint with your brush and start applying onto desired area.  Paint an even coat.  Wait about 10 minutes and retouch any missed areas.  And you're done!