I'm trying to do a three tiered version of a Pink Cake Box sweet 16 cake, done in white, hot pink, and gold.

The cake has given me no end of problems today anyway, haha...pudding filling didn't set up right, too soft....icing too soft.....weather warm and humid today after being used to dry cool weather all winter of course... topsy turvy that is topsy enough even to scare me haha...

So okay I looked at Pink Cake Box's photo and the gold is super bright, like highlighter dust. So I'm using it (edible or not, she used it, evidently, so I am....) But its SO SMOOTH!!! And it looks like she airbrushed the stripes and the border balls seperately somehow, and then put them on the cake.

How?

Highlighter dust is a thicker grain..the stuff would never go through my airbrush, and would never be as thick and shiny as hers.

So I'm hand painting mine...what a disaster! Every little puddle of gold is obvious against the white and pink colors. Every time I try to get it thicker and more shiny, you can see the texture of the brush or of the extra thick layer I put on. But try to smooth it out with the brush and it shows through the light yellow that I used as a base (well that was a stupid decision using that color, anyway.)

So...this cake is looking pretty sloppy...I mean I think a photo will cover some of it but it does NOT look neat and professional like Pink Cake Box's, plus I made the layers a bit too "turvy" too.

*sigh*

Its one of those weeks.

Anyway...suggestions?

Here is hers: http://www.pinkcakebox.com/images/cake1263.jpg

I'm doing a variation on the top three tiers.

And praying my mushy pudding and mushy icing doesn't really mess me up...I put two dowels all the way through it, hoping that helps.

Luster dust works better than highlighter dust. I've also heard of people using the gold airbrush liquid.

I read in the ices newsletter that Bronwen puts her dust in a sprayer bottle and mixes it with vodka, then sprays her surface.

Maybe that's a solution if it won't go through your airbrush?

If not....then I'm stumped, sorry.

Spray bottle is interesting...hmmm...

Well I finished the cake...and I will say that this time actually the structure is scaring me more than the gold paint at this point. Everything ended up too soft...the filling, the icing....and its topsy turvy...so the cake has some stability issues. I'm not excited about it. Just praying the customer drives really carefully tomorrow.

I do see some "settling" and I usually don't see that in my cakes...NOT GOOD. I was an idiot to allow the customer to pick pudding filling...I forgot about the tiers sitting at an angle and the pudding being slippery.

I saved the site...have you tried the gold?

Here is mine btw.. http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1631310&done=1

It looks not a whole lot like the Pink Cake Box one....I hope the customer doesn't care, and I hope the pudding filling holds up through the party and does not slide any more than it has.

Kitagrl your cake came out great. The gold is real shiny. I always use the Americolor airbrush colors - they work great and there is no mixing.

No pudding in topsies ever.

Haha yeah I really learned the pudding lesson. BIG TIME. Hub just delivered and customer happy so as long as the cake holds up all evening I will consider myself warned and lucky!