AI have an order for a 2 tier wedding cake in white fondant. The bride sent me a pic of a cake she liked that looks like it was painted with gold disco dust. This being the cake the happy couple will cut at the reception I don't want to screw it up! So I was searching for how exactly to paint it on the fondant. Water, vodka, piping gel...everyone seems to have a different medium they prefer. What is the best way to paint disco dust onto fondant? Any suggestions are so appreciated!

You shouldn't use disco dust directly onto anything that will be eaten, because it's made of plastic. Is the picture of the cake just gold colored? That can be done with either gold luster dust made into a paint using vodka, or with gold leaf. if it isn't sparkly like glitter it probably isn't disco dust.

ANope, the picture is sparkly. And I figure they probably won't eat the fondant anyway as not many people like the taste of fondant. And the dust I got said it was edible.

I'm sure the cake was probably painted with disco dust.  Way too many bakeries don't care that its's supposed to be decorative only and not eaten, and it possibly was a cake made t be pphotographed just for Pinterest to it had all kinds of fakeuneduble stuff all over it.  I'm giving up the fight - if ya'all want to eat dirt or poison that's fine with me!  LOL

Without seeing the desired effect you want to end up with I can't suggest the best way to get you there.  Could be vodka or piping gel, one will be smooth and one will be more chunky.

AWell after reading several threads I guess I will have to call the bride in the morning and tell her I won't do the cake as pictured, and pray that my local Joann's has Wilton's shimmer dust in gold that will look similar. If disco dust isn't safe on cakes then why in the world do all these cake places sell it and call it edible! Last time my bakery accepts one of these jobs!:-(

Because it is edible.  So is chalk, playdough, and rocks.  

There is a very famous cake from a few years ago that still comes up from time to time.   This cake was featured In Brides Magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful cake in America", ran on 1/2 baked the Cake Blog (back when they used to run cakes made from other cake artists and not just the 3 people they run now), was on Style Me Pretty, and countless other sources both print and online.  It's a black pin striped cake.  I know the cake designer.  She did it with black sharpie.  Sharpie.  In different thicknesses of the tips.  This was originally done for a fake styled photo shoot and the designer was just trying something new and had no time to come up with a cake for this photo shoot, but the cake went viral and the only only way to recreate the look for the new swarms of clients that HAD TO HAVE THAT CAKE?  Sharpie.  So that's the cake she sold/sells.  Black pinstripe sharipe cake.  But hey, sharpie is non-toxic too and after a day in the walk-in doesn't smell like sharpie, it looks just like paint at a fraction of the cost and incredibly simple to do over using a food color pen or actually attempting to paint the lines with food color or airbrush color.  So there you go.  

The only thing that is surprising is that all wedding cakes are not made of plastic and metallic spray paint from the hardware store.  You know you could just rent them out, hose them down, and rent them again.

A sharpie......sadly I'm not surprised.  Food isn't supposed to look like your nail polish.

I had no idea what a sharpie was so I googled it but am not sure I found the right thing, are you saying she uses a felt tip pen? on a cake?

A

Yep. People do a lot of things on display cakes that they can't do on real cakes. That's one of my pet peeves, too. When brides come to me with pictures of that kind of stuff i get to be the bad guy and explain that 90% of the stuff you see in magazines is plastic, styrofoam and won't work in real life for people who actually want to eat a cake.

AThanks Costumczar, I'm shocked. I know people use disco dust but had no idea that ordinary felt tips were used. I'm somewhat horrified.

AWow!!! Sharpie man that would have made my last cake a whole lot easier lol!!! I can't believe it! But I deal with disappointing brides at work in a similar way doing hair they find pictures that obviously have multiple hair pieces in them or sets of extensions, I don't typically keep those in my back pocket!

Well, if it says "non-toxic" it won't kill anyone, but if someone is sensitive to certain things it might make them sick. Plus, it isn't good to sit and suck on a sharpie, so why would you want to have it on food that you're eating? I prefer to not even deal with it and leave the plastic and sharpies for craft projects, not food.

Hahaha I know but like I said before - I might be switching teams - start a thread on here about banning trans fats and it gets and pages of people freaking out about "big government" and OMGHOWAMIGOINGTOMAKEMYBUTTERCREAM all that nonsense - and trans fats are plastic for crying out loud (in very simplistic terms, I really do NOT want to talk about trans fats).  What's a little sharpie if it makes the cake so pretty and perfect and you can make perfect pinstripes in a fraction of the time?

I hate to sound antagonistic, but its something to think about.  And, I've very recently had not one, but 4 venues tell me it doesn't matter if it's "edible" or not, they don't take the chance no matter what.  We all sit here and think WE are the ones that will get sued when little Timmy chokes on that real button or that real strand of pearls hung on our pretty little cakes, but really the venue gets sued first, then they sue us.  So my venues, with the trends of feathers and buttons and ribbon and pearls and diamonds and sparkles and lace take ZERO chances because lets face it - VERY few "cake makers" bother to take the time or the expense to learn to make that stuff in sugar, it's much easier and "pretty" to just go use that 40% off coupon from Michaels and buy some petty fabric lace around it.  That stuff, unless the bride requests to keep it, goes in the trash by the venue 100% of the time.  So why not paint on fondant with glitter if that means I get the job?  I'm dead serious, and if you know me at all from around here you know me typing this is down-right shocking.  But this last year I got my butt handed to me by bakers with a fraction of the skill who got the jobs because they said "yes" when I said "no" to some bride wanting to cover her buttercream cake in burlap and fresh hydrangea or nice lace from China or paint all over it with highlighter all "Gatsby" like.  Or the worst - wanting to use silver dragees which I can't legally use here in CA  but I sure saw pages and pages of my competitor's Pinterests and Instragrams fill all year with cakes covered in silver dragees.  And no way did they make them - I know exactly where they bought them.

Sigh.  I'm always the rule follower and lately I'm finding that gets me nowhere so I am dead serious - 2014 you may see some shocking cakes come from me - and it's all stuff I would have turned down in the past. 

Anyway, I say do the cake.

AI'll be watching for the sharpie-decorated,silver dragee encrusted glitter cakes. That actually sounds pretty plain, though,so you should add some real feathers and copyright protected characters on them too.

AOh just wait, I just might have enough dope in my system to make a cake just like that!

ACuriosity is killing me now, and I want to know which cake it is. I hope googling pin stripe cake brings it up.

ADang...I don't think I see it. I'll try 50 most beautiful now. or you could like...post it here.

AI'll settle for just sniffing the Sharpie........

Man I really want to name drop but it's already uncool I'm criticizing a cake designer that could design me under the table and someone I hope I'll have the pleasure to meet on the teaching circuit, or I will at least one of these days taking one of her many world-wide classes she does.  Anyway, I need to get my business to step 4, and that means selling out and cutting a few corners here and there that so far I've refused to do. But seriously, I'd rather eat trace amounts of sharipe then crisco/shortening icing any day.  LOL  But seriously. you want purple trim and swiss dots piped on buttercream with tiers separated by pillars and a fountain?  Done.  You want a rainbow funfetti cake?  SOLD. Want all fresh flowers on your cake?  Bring on the calla lilies.  HAHA I really didn't want to make this thread about me but this last year I've really learned how successful one can be in this industry in such a competitive market - I think A Cake To Remember said it best - is this a hobby or a business?  Do I want to make money or do I want to pay the bride all the labor I put in my cakes just to make something my idea of pretty?

I 100% am a business and 2014 is all about giving the client what they want, not what "art" I feel like doing that day.

Man, I'm horrible at sending you out on scavenger hunts - Sorry!

AOohh!! I think I found it!! ;)

A

A

Thank you, thank you...that's what I ask everyone...are you running a business or a hobby to stroke your ego while you sit around to tell yourself that you're an "artiste"? A hobby is ego-driven, and a business is client-driven, so figure out what you want to do. THEN REMIND Yourself that hobbies don't pay the bills. I do what the clients want because they're paying me, then for fun I do what I want, like a little cake I did yesterday that I did because I liked it. If other people also like it that's great, but I like it, and I already have an idea for a series based on it, and I'll do that for my own enjoyment because nobody's paying me for it. If someone is paying me I'll do what they want, not what I want. And anyone who whines and moans that they can't ever do that (i.e. Give a paying customer what they want) can send them over to me and I'll take their money and give them what they want. Short of sharpie and plastic glitter, I'm also not interested in being sued for making people sick. For that I have a couple of people I don't like who I'll refer clients to, heh heh :twisted:

yes and there's competitions too for the ego driven perfectionist--and nothing wrong with that--i just already knew i ain't as good as others--no worries--but making clients happy is a tremendous ego boost in it's own way--*'cake highs' are legal too

besides baking contests at office jobs where i've been employed --i did one competition--where the cakes had to able to be done in real time for a real client--none of this workin' on it for months & months--

*cake high--the exhilaration you get after delivering a cake--especially several tier cakes on a saturday--you just float home happy--

srsly businesses are for making money--imo home bakers have the luxury of doing it for art's sake

AI keep referring back to my day job (hairdressing 15yrs) but cake is just a hobby for me, therefore I do get to do what I want but there have been many hair clients that I'm literally closing my eyes when I'm done hoping they run out the door so my boss won't see!! Haha! But it's what THEY wanted. When the new people start and ask what you do about just that situation I always say there first haircut, or maybe 3 is what they want then once they trust me I can talk them into what I want to do!!

AI am clearly missing something about some of the sensibilities on this thread. If a customer wants a sharpie decorated cake and will sign something saying she knows that part of the cake isn't edible, then I'm happy to do it. And maybe I need to get out more, but I don't see pictures of cakes that look impossible to do edible, except maybe in terms of structure. But no one's saying they have an issue with structural items are they? And even the sharpie cake could have been done in edible marker. I'd love to see what y'all are talking about.

Fondant and gumpaste aren't exactly tasty in my opinion and for me the inedible part starts with those items. And before anyone tries to explain about homemade fondant - I'm a professional baker and am well aware of the options.

i think, 'what if i got questioned about this cake'--and in fact i was questioned with my last cake--a crohn's suifferer asked me about holding cakes before they are served--he meant talk to me about safety -- i was very happy to assure him and speak freely about all my procedures-- i did not have to say--oh this and that are not edible and we have to count and re-count the rhinestones we used on the lace pieces but don't worry they say the three that are missing will show up on colon x-rays around the county in a few days-- and bledeebla--everything on the cake was edible and held within the bounds of safety--

just felt great--

and what if there was an issue with the shrimp and folks got sick and they questioned all the food vendors--again i'm free and clear--no worries-

-if someone wants to pay me to use sharpies and disco dust on cake that's going to be served i'm not for sale--

we have to clearly firmly err on the side of safety--the potential for catastrophic consequences are too great otherwise--

imo