Hi everyone,
Well, I am not a cake decorator, but I am a henna artist, so squeezing stuff out of a tube is what I do. One of my clients has hired me to decorate her wedding cake with henna designs (an indian wedding) and I'm so excited. There is someone else baking the cake, and she will make a chocolate fondant, which will be my canvas to work on. I have seen some cake photos in which henna designs were painted on using metallic gold and colored paints, but i'm thinking only metallics would show up well on chocolate. I think it might be easier to use frosting to just squeeze out the designs instead. So here is my question - what kind of frosting should I make to create the designs with? In other words, what type of frosting won't run, melt, or sag, and which will stick properly to the fondant. Also, where is a good source for metallic edible paint? Thanks so much for any help you can give me. I'll be sure to share pics if it works out!

Welcome to Cake Central! That sounds like quite the project! The Cake Central store sells luster dust which is awesome as a metallic "paint". It comes in lots of colours, you can use it right on top of fondant, or you can do your design with Royal Icing and then "paint" right on top of that with the luster dust. I'm sure there are many other CC'ers who will have other great ideas too. Good luck - can't wait to see pictures!

I think gakali said it best. That would be the way I would do it. It would probably be easier to just paint the design on with the lusterdust (mixed with vodka or lemon extract), but if you want a texture to it...use the royal icing and paint that!

Good luck!

okay, so i was wrong, it's going to be a ganache! is it smooth enough to paint on?

Bumping this post back up to the top due to hennalounge still having a question. I have not heard of painting on ganache, so can't help answer, sorry=( Hopefully someone has some words of wisdom! Jen

thanks for the bump Jen. I think to be on the safe side i will have the cake baker make me a suitable frosting. i really think it would be fun to use the gold luster though...

You can also pipe with melted chocolate in a bag, then paint that with luster dust. I would experiment with different types of frosting and see which looks the best.

you can also add the luste dust to your acing then pipe it. Tried it and I wasn't thilled with the final result but it it an option since henna patterns can be very intricate, I'm sure it would take forever to pipe the design then go back and paint it. I would use RI and dust or paint it. The genache sounds like it might cause a bit of trouble, wouldn't try to paint it.

ooh or white chocolate on ganache would look really good and you could paint with gold or copper luster dust.

thanks for the suggestions! i'm not sure if i'm ready to work with melted chocolate, it might be too runny for the henna type designs. i'm really not a baker, so even though the technique is the same, i'm not so familiar with all the different textures and viscosities of different decorating mediums. I was also thinking maybe a crusting creamcheese frosting if there is such a thing. I assume the frosting must harden or crust in order to apply luster dust to it? i might just do the gold on selected dots or elements instead of going over the whole thing.

i have another question. i might be getting a little ambitious here, but i was thinking of making a fondant or gumpaste topper for the cake and thought it would be so beautiful to make a big lotus. does anyone know of any "patterns" to make one?

i guess the bottom line is i need to get my tush in gear and try some of my ideas out before letting 'er rip on someone's wedding cake. the bride has given me free rein, but still, i want it to be exquisite and not amateurish. wish me luck!