i'm getting ready to order edible pearls for my daughters wedding cake.....these will go on 14", 10", and 4" layers...i'm not sure what size to order....i'm thinking either 6 mm or 8 mm......what do most of you use?and do you have a favorite place you order them from?? thanks...Donna 
Hi Donna...I like the look of 6 or 7mm. The 8 seem a little large to me. If there are going to be other decorations though like large florals...a larger pearl might be better.
Earlene sells soft-centered edible pearls that are made by hand. They're better eats then the hard ones which are like jawbreakers.
http://www.earlenescakes.com/store/pearls.html
If you want to how to make them earlene site shows you how and it is easy, here is the link:
http://www.earlenescakes.com/prlinstruct.htm
I have used both the hard and soft. You can get a lot more for your money if you buy the hard ones...and they still look good. I like the 7mm...but I have also used a mixture of different sizes and it looked very nice. I love the way edible pearls look on wedding cakes. I show them to all of the brides that come to sample.
traci
thanks everyone..i think i like the soft center ones ...since i'm not sure of their consistentcy....can i make them look "pearlized" by using luster dust...(or is it pearl dust i use???)
(although....as a confirmed "do it yourselfer" 
....i am going to try to make them!!! 
....just to see if i can do it!)
I believe you can enhance them with pearl dust. I think it is great that you will be making them yourself...my problem is that I just never seem to have enough time! I can't wait to see how the wedding cake comes out...I know you will do a great job! 
traci
I have never used them myself -- But as an acclaimed "do it yourselfer" myself - I would be making pearls for months too. Are you going to try to make them for your daughters wedding ? If you lived close I would come and help you. Where do you live? I just love to do wedding cakes especially for family and close friends - I did my daughters and it made it even more special... She still get teary eyed when she looks at a picture of it. She was so suprised when she saw it. I have it posted..
thanks for all the words of encouragement.....everyone is great on this site........when i do the practice cake next week i'm going to post a picture......the first thing my daughter asked me to do when she got engaged was to make her wedding cake.....and since this is my first wedding cake....(and for those of you who haven't seen any of my panicked quetions....hehehe........its a cheesecake wedding cake or should i say cakes).....i'm actually going to have a stacked cake in the middle with satellite cakes around it.......
gma1956.....i live hear camp lejeune, NC.....USMC wife (he's retired now) and just recently a USMC mom (and yes i'm very very proud of my son!!)....so do you happen to live close???
her wedding is a month away from today!!!! would love to have help!!!! (probably need more than i think )
i'm going to try to get some made this afternoon/evening.....will let everyone knows how it goes......
thanks for the offer anyway!
i had some rolled buttercream made up.......and i've probably broken every decorating rule there is.........but this is what i did......i rolled some out....(don't know if you're suppose to make the pearls out of this or not 
).......and then because it was the only thing i could find....(didn't have a dec.tip the right size).....i used a straw to punch them out
i rolled those little things up.....and have set them out to dry.......don't have any idea if this will work....or if rolled buttercream will dry hard enough......but i figured it was worth a try!! and really the straw seemed to give me the right size!!! keep your fingers crossed that it works!
dlp-make SURE you let us know how they turned out! I think I read on some site (maybe Earline's) that you use fondant and use a round tip (#3?) to get a uniform size. I think you did good by using the straw-necessity is the mother of invention! 
thanks prettytoya
i'm hoping since rolled buttercream is supposed to be like fondant that it will work.....and you're right about "necessity"........and really the straw worked great.....i surprised myself!!
i just looked at them and they seem to be drying...but i'm not going to move them until tomorrow......and here's the neat thing....since the buttercream kinda has a "sheen" (from the crisco)......they really look pretty...i don't know if that will go away after they dry completly but right now they look great!
I just made 600 pearls for a 4 tier (16,14,12,8") wedding cake last week...did about 150 a night for 4 nights while watching TV. Bought the ready made fondant, rolled out small amount at time, used Small end of round tip to cut out, and they stack up in tip and come out top. Then, rolled each one by hand. That way they are pretty uniform in size, but using the straw was a great idea because you still get that uniformity. I just ordered Super Pearl Dust for $2.75 for 2 grams. I used about 1/2 that for 600 pearls. I placed small amount of pearl dust in zip lock bag and put pearls in it, zipped it, rolled around and they were done. If you want to order the dust, it is 2-3 days ship time www.winbeckler.com Good Luck with your cake!
Using the fondant, I would roll out the pearls and place them in a pie pan, wait for 2 hours, then put them in the zip lock and "dust" them. I then laid them in pie pans in a single layer and left out to finish drying for a few days. I had read somewhere if you wait too long to dust them that the dust will not adhere, so that's why I did it after 2 hours. Since the pearls are not really that big, I guess that's why I had success doing it that way. Hope this helps.
first....let me just say that i think my pearls turned out really well......as of this morning they still look nice.....not quite as shiny...but still have a sheen to them.......heres my next question........what tips can you give me as far as picking them up and placing on the cake without squeezing them ?? they are still a little soft....which i like....and i believe earlene's instructions said to frreze them to keep them soft...which i will.... but i seem to be putting a flat place on them with my fingers....any suggestions?
TWEEZERS! They are invaluable when decorating with pearls...I use thinned down icing for "glue", placing a tiny bit on the cake and then using tweezers to place pearls. Don't use too much icing, though, or it will "squeeze" out from the sides of the pearls.
I'm doing my pearls as I'm reading the posts. I have the bead mold and its going quickly.
My question is once I get them all done, do I put the pearl dust on then or should I let them dry.
they are attached in rows of approx. 6" and if I put the pearl dust in a bag to do it that way, they probably will all fall apart.
Any suggestions???
Okay, doing some reading now. I've always put my pearls on a minute or two after I take them out of the mold. I wait long enough for them to stiffen up a little bit but not so much that they break. The key for me is to not squeeze the mold so tight that all the excess fondant squeezes out and there will be no "brace" for the individual pearls to hold onto when taken out of the mold. Does that make sense?
Amy
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