i want to make a realistic looking river for a hunting cake. piping gel i have heard is great. do i first but blue icing down and then spread piping gel over it? or do i mix the gel in with the icing? or just use blue gel? wouldn' t just using the gel be gross?

Some coat the inside of the river with blue colored BC first and then layer the gel ontop.Don't mix it in though...The gel isn't gross just sweet...and it will get rubbery and hard if you refrigerate it.

I always put down a layer of light blue buttercream under my water first. Then you can put a thin layer of blue tinted piping gel.

Here is a couple of hints when working with piping gel. Stir your color in gently so you don't whip bubbles into the gel. It looks better without air bubbles in it. Also, and this is a big one, don't use very much blue coloring at all. Piping gel takes very, very little coloring to tint, otherwise you will get this very dark blue that is too dark to be water. Use a tiny pinprick of coloring at first, you can always add more.

ok thank yall so much for taking the time to help me!