My question is....Is the only way to paint on fondant with luster dust mixed with liquid. I am making a "sports theme" bday cake and am going to add fondant cut outs in various sports shapes. For example, the red lines on a baseball or the white lines on a football. Can I paint the details with color gel (the gel we use to tint or icing or frosting)? Or, do I have to stick with luster dust??

You can paint directly with gel/paste colors or you can thin them with an extract, clear drinking alcohol, or even a bit of water (too much makes it sticky) in a pinch.

For fine details, I prefer food markers like thos from Americolor, KopyKake, or Foodoodlers.

HTH
Rae

Ditto to what BlakesCakes said but just wanted to add that you'll want to make sure you give your pieces enough time to dry. Mine took about 1 -2 days to dry.

The best thing to add to the gel colors is vodka or lemon extract, since the alcohol evaporates it dries faster.

Edna

Thanks everybody...I didnt expect to get a response that quick!! That is why I just looooooooooove cake central

It really depends on how much color you want to add. Depending on how much liquid you add, you can go from dark colors to a light almost like water color look. Just test it on paper before you do it on your cake..
Edna