I need help using this luster dust. I look at pictures of cakes that people have used luster dust and it looks even as if it was part of the fondant. I have tried sprinkling it on with a sieve and painting it on and it always looks spotty. I was watching Ace of Cakes and he said he mixed it with something (what I missed) and painted it on. It looked shiny and almost metalic (he used green) and most importantly even! Any advise.

On Ace of Cakes, he mixed it with VODKA, because the alcohol evaporates faster than water. But you can mix it with water or lemon juice, according to the package directions.

They also say to mix with lemon extract because it has a higher percentage of alcohol which evapurates. You can also use any clear "spirit", but most books recommend the lemon extract, from what I have read.

vodka is basically flavorless, though, so if you don't want it to affect the flavor of your cake, it's probably a better choice than some kind of extract.

Unless you can get your hands on some Everclear. That stuff evaporates so fast, you have to hurry while you paint it on! It's especially great if you are painting small fondant accents that would just go soggy if they got wet.

I use everclear. I used to use vanilla until I went to the ICES convention & all the great decorators use Everclear. It gets the luster dust to the perfect consistency that you need & dries fast so you don't have to wait to re-apply the luster dust.

It doesn't effect the flavor of your cakes. It's evaporates so fast.