I have a cake that involves using silver dust. I have seen on many posting that it works best when mixed with vodka. my question is how much vodka should I use? Do you make it like a paste or do you make it runny?

Good question, BakerDee1875, and one to which I am really anxious for the answer, too . Sometimes I've made a paste and sometimes I've made it runnier and I haven't liked either one . Could it be something about the way we're applying it? I'm ready to hear all advice. TIA.

I need to ask the clarifying question. Are you planning on airbrushing it? If so you are going to want it thin enough to go through the airbrush without clogging. If not you are going to want it to be where it is easy spreadable for you but without leaving brush strokes. I hope that helps

You need it to be a medium consistency between the paste and runny. I add the flavored oil to mix mine with. It smells and taste better by mixing it with the flavored oils.

I just did a gold cake. And I colored my fondant ivory first then bought a big blush brush and dusted mine with the gold luster dust. I never did figure out how to get buttercream gold so I skipped it. Only other option I had was to airbrush it. Good Luck.

Aha! I never even thought of airbrushing and don't have the equipment to do it. What happens if you try to add color or shine with a spray bottle? (Everybody says there are no dumb questions, but I understand if anyone wants to change their mind after this). Actually, I was more interested in painting it on with a brush or dusting it (thanks for the idea about the blush brush, Shaa). I've tried it several times and just uploaded a St. Patrick's day cake the other day which had a lot of gold dust on it, but the brush strokes were all visible, the coverage was bad, and it took almost a whole little pot of dust to do.

I never thought about airbrushing it either. I just figured i could brush it on, maybe this is a good excuse to buy the airbrush system ive been wanting.

I didnt mix it with anything - just brushed it on dry with a good brush and it worked fine. It is however better to brush your fondant/gumpaste pieces and then put them on the cake. The dry powder tends to get everywhere if you're not careful.

I agree with PP to use a medium consistency - not too thin or you will have to do SO many coats, but not so thick that it is a paste. You can of course brush it on dry but I find that I get MUCH better coverage using alcohol. The thinner the solution (within reason), the less stroke marks you get. For best coverage you should plan to do at least 2 coats. You must let each coat completely dry before attempting another!

I would color the fondant gray first to help with the silver illusion from the dust. Marianna46, I just looked at your gold cake, I think you could have eliminated the brush strokes by going for another layer and by starting with yellow fondant pieces .

If you can get your hands on some Everclear it works even better than vodka (higher alcohol content).

Thanks for your ideas, ceshell. Actually, I did two coats of gold dust in vodka, but the second one dissolved the first one and left me with brushstrokes anyway. Next time I'll use yellow fondant and a thinner solution of the dust - on this one it was almost pure dust, and that may have been the problem.