Making Metallic Cakes and Decorations

Pix — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:08:48 +0000

Looking for a way to create silver coloring or other metallics on cakes? Look no further than edible pearl dust. Whether you’re looking for something glittery, or an all-out realistic metal finish, these cool little vials of powder will do the trick.

The key to painting pearl dust onto cake decorations is a hard surface. Fondant icing works best, along with gum paste decorations. Buttercream may be used if a very firm crust has formed, and in that case, I would not recommend going for the ultra-shiny metallic finish, as it involves adding liquid, and that can be the death of buttercream. A very careful dusting of the powder is about the best one could hope for in that case.

When using fondant, you have two choices: Dry Powder, or Liquid Metallic. Begin with a fondant surface that has rested long enough to be dry.

White fondant before metallic effect

If you brush dry powder on your fondant (as shown on the top strip of fondant in the example below), you will end up with a glittery finish featuring the color of your choice (I used silver here). You can see that the base fondant color still shows through when using this method.

To achieve the opaque metallic look featured on the bottom strip of fondant, mix a good amount of the pearl dust with a drop or two of lemon juice, vodka, or clear vanilla. Use your paint brush to apply the color to your decorations.

Above: Pearl Dust brushed on fondant Below: Pearl Dust Mixed with Lemon Juice

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Making Metallic Cakes and Decorations