I am making my daughter a Little Mermaid cake I found online. It is an Arial figure in a shell that is placed on what looks like water. The instructions call for airbrushing the icing with certain colors. I do not want to invest in an airbrush as I only bake cakes for my kids birthdays. I prefer to use buttercream frosting and was told by a co-worker who decorates cakes to use a paint brush that is shaped as a fan. My question is, if I used that with food coloring, the brush will just mess up the frosting as it is soft. I thought about putting fondant over the buttercream but don't really like the taste and have never used fondant.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

What about coloring piping gel blue then place over your bc??? I have used this several times to resemble water. HTH!
~Jaime