Ok... I know there's probably an answer in these forums, but I've search for hours looking for some information. Could some of you (wonderful) experts please tell me how to make buttercream icing shiny? I realize it can be done with fondant - however, my friend wants her son's birthday cake to be made with buttercream.

DETAILS: I'm making a "wooden" plaque for a base cake and would like it to look varnished.

Is this possible? Or am I just Dreaming?

Thanks for your input - I really appreciate any and all advice.

Blessings!
Cheley

Hard to help without a better idea of the cake you want to make, but maybe try piping gel? You could paint a thin layer on your cold buttercream.

There is a spray you can use, I think it's called edible varnish. Maybe you can Google it? I've never tried it but I've seen threads on this site. Good Luck!

Can't you just make the plaque out of fondant and take it off before serving?

Thank you SO much for your help! The cake is a wall-mounted bass (fish) on an oval slab of wood. I mentioned fondant to my friend and she said "Absolutely NO fondant". I'll test the edible varnish on the buttercream and see how it does. Otherwise, piping gel sounds like it will do.
Thanks again - I appreciate the input from all of you!

Cheley

My favorite way to make something look glossed is to mix corn syrup with almond extract and paint it on (buttercream obviously would need to be crusted over, and use a soft brush).

Since you need the wood look, maybe you could paint darker brown streaks of color (thinned with vodka or extract) on top of light brown BC. The painted streaks should stay glossy and give the lighter brown BC a wooden texture. HTH