I need to decorate a cake for a wedding which has small diamonds all around the bottom edges of 2 tiers.
I was going to buy any kind of diamontes - depending on price and what I could find... then I thought it would be a good idea to have edible ones, however I read somewhere (on a website where someone was selling edibles) not to use them for wedding cakes as they don't do well in open air for too long and obviously a wedding cake needs to be made ahead of time.
Please see attached image of the type I need - I don't have a clue how many I need yet- probably a few thousand as they would be no larger than 5mm I suppose ......
Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should use - where I can get them from - any word on someone who has used them before.....
I'm in Australia so I'd need to organise payment and postage too.
Thanks guys 
p.s. 1st order which is very scary! I'm not sure if client wants fruit cake (I'm hoping) or mudcake - which scares me knowing I have less time to bake and doesn't cover as ideally as fruit. Any tips on some smooth icing is greatly appreciated too (its Pettinice, I'm not sure what American's call it?)
Its kind of hard to see in the photo, but they look kind of bright to me to be sugar diamonds. You can purchase silicone molds from first impressions molds, and use isomalt to create the diamonds. Isomalt is an artificial sugar, and produces clear gems (sugar tends to be yellowish). Ive read that if you swipe on a little cooking spray after delivery, it helps shine them back up. I havent made them very much because I've found it to be kind of a pain, and they never turn out as nice as Id hoped. Im still learning though. THere are lots of threads about this on here if you do a little search, you may find some good info. There are places you can order these things as well, however I am very wary of that. I hate ordering something that I cannot see in person, especially if it's known to be tempermental. I have heard of people ordering these online and what they received wasnt as nice as the photo they saw on the site they ordered it from. I hope you can find some more information. There is a lot of it if you search through the forums a bit.
Kind of pricey so make sure to price the cake higher to cover your expenses. http://www.fondantsource.com/smsudi3dipks.html you might want to purchase the mold like she said and try making your own if you need that many.
Kind of pricey so make sure to price the cake higher to cover your expenses. http://www./smsudi3dipks.html you might want to purchase the mold like she said and try making your own if you need that many.
Hi guys thanks for your help --- sweettreat - unfortunately that link never came up......
also as its my first time doing this and I'm not a highly highly experienced decorator, I probably don't have time to be gambling - therefore I don't think I should try the edible ones.... and it sounds clear I'll get a better result with actual crystals - however I am concerned about having so many little NON-edible products on a cake that needs to be served to so many guests? (I don't know the bride nor the guests and will not be there to serve).
honestly hon, I wouldnt risk putting non-edible gems on there. That is a lot of gems to be picking out of a cake, and also it could be a problem waiting to happen. You dont want them calling you because so and so chipped a tooth on these things because someone was trying to chomp into a piece of tiny glass. If whoever cuts it before taking the gems out, then pieces are sure to get imbedded into the cake.
As a rule, I only put non-edible decor on non-edible gumpaste pieces, or dummy cakes. If one tier is a dummy, for example, I may do it on that tier alone. You can get garland at a craft store with gems on it. That would be ok for the border because you can take it off easily. Sticking little gems in the icing itself is just scary to me.
If it were me doing this, I would order a mold asap and start practicing. Either that, or be honest with the customer and tell them this may be something you arent comfortable with doing. Tell them about the sugar gems, that it may not be as shiney as expected. Be honest about what might happen if you put real gems in the icing. It kind of sucks to agree to something, and then have to go back and tell the customer it was more difficult than you thought. But Ive had to do it a few times. Sometimes its better to avoid a disaster than to try to pull off something your not comfortable with.
As of now, I dont take orders for cakes like that because I dont have confidence in my abilities to make the gems look great. I just havent had the best of luck. Maybe you can offer the solution of the crystal garland around the base instead. Michaels has it in there bridal section in the store in my area. I dont know what you have in craft stores there. but Im sure you may be able to find something similar.
These are just my thoughts. The best of luck to you, hon.
honestly hon, I wouldnt risk putting non-edible gems on there. That is a lot of gems to be picking out of a cake, and also it could be a problem waiting to happen. You dont want them calling you because so and so chipped a tooth on these things because someone was trying to chomp into a piece of tiny glass. If whoever cuts it before taking the gems out, then pieces are sure to get imbedded into the cake.
As a rule, I only put non-edible decor on non-edible gumpaste pieces, or dummy cakes. If one tier is a dummy, for example, I may do it on that tier alone. You can get garland at a craft store with gems on it. That would be ok for the border because you can take it off easily. Sticking little gems in the icing itself is just scary to me.
If it were me doing this, I would order a mold asap and start practicing. Either that, or be honest with the customer and tell them this may be something you arent comfortable with doing. Tell them about the sugar gems, that it may not be as shiney as expected. Be honest about what might happen if you put real gems in the icing. It kind of sucks to agree to something, and then have to go back and tell the customer it was more difficult than you thought. But Ive had to do it a few times. Sometimes its better to avoid a disaster than to try to pull off something your not comfortable with.
As of now, I dont take orders for cakes like that because I dont have confidence in my abilities to make the gems look great. I just havent had the best of luck. Maybe you can offer the solution of the crystal garland around the base instead. Michaels has it in there bridal section in the store in my area. I dont know what you have in craft stores there. but Im sure you may be able to find something similar.
These are just my thoughts. The best of luck to you, hon.
Thanks for your help. It all makes very clear sense. Its hard too because she's seen the cake on someone's website and as its been done before - I'll have to be prepared for the 20 questions.... I really want the job though, I'm just the little guy working at home and this was from a proper shop so its quite ironic that a shop would even think about doing that....
I'm thinking about giving her another couple of options - I'll do a garland/ strand of the crystals - I know its not going to look quite the same though.. unless I can find something more like it but all i can find is straight strands ... there are some drop-tear style ones but I don't think its the look she'd be going for... anyway I thought to compensate for that perhaps she's want a swarovski topper as a heart or the couple's initials (since she wasn't having anything on the top at all) I just don't want her to be dissapointed before I even start.
Do you think I'll be able to find any garlands remotely simliar to that design?
I'm not prepared to make the crystals myself. I saw some for sale on the internet that were edible but there was a warning not to use for wedding cakes as they don't survive the extended time out in open air with humidity etc.... damn, why is there always a drama!!
http://www.rainbowsugarcraft.co.uk/shop/Lace_Bead_Flowers.htm
I just happened on this site just before reading questions in the forum. I realize this is the UK...but yesterday I read where many of the cake crystals are coming out of AU and they were beautiful. Don't remember site and have no idea of price... Sorry I wasn't much help.
http://www..co.uk/shop/Lace_Bead_Flowers.htm
I just happened on this site just before reading questions in the forum. I realize this is the UK...but yesterday I read where many of the cake crystals are coming out of AU and they were beautiful. Don't remember site and have no idea of price... Sorry I wasn't much help.
thanks anyway - unfortunately that link didn't work again. Perhaps you can give me written directions.
Oh the stress of wedding cakes!
Ive read that if you swipe on a little cooking spray after delivery, it helps shine them back up. I havent made them very much because I've found it to be kind of a pain, and they never turn out as nice as Id hoped.
do you think I'd be ok if I purchased ready-made ones or is it still a gamble as to how I'd go?
Also I just read that you can use a little cooking spray then too - I wonder if I'd make a mess of the cake with all that dry white icing (you guys call it Marzipan i think? ) behind it if I get it wet? I guess i can do it VERYyyy carefully...
I've just spent the last couple of hours browsing the internet to see who was what sort of cake jewelry, crystal banding and whatnot that I may be able to substitute with.
I do a lot of dummy cakes for weddings. The whole display is styrofoam and they serve sheet cakes or cupcakes to the guests. For the cake cutting they put a corner of sheet cake or a cupcake behind the display and the guests are none the wiser. If you could present that option to your bride, then you could put the little craft or scrapbooking rhinestones to get the look in the photo. You also would have extra time to get this done since it's non edible, and won't have to worry about things like weather causing tiers to slide, etc. Silver dragees would also give a similar look if she wants the cake to be real. Only when you get up close to it would you know they're not stones. Guests across the room would not be able to see if they're diamonds or not. Would that be acceptable to your bride? Good luck with it! I hope you can find a good compromise. Post pictures if you decide to do this.
Do Silver dragees come in a colour closer to a diamond? By any chance do they come in different shapes other than balls I wonder?
I've never done a wedding cake before, much less a design like that. It's beautiful. I can see why the bride likes it so much.
I don't know what they are called, but what about those plastic cake band things? Would it be possible to use those to attach the non-edible diamonds to? Kind of like, ice the cake, crisco the back of the plastic band, ice over the plastic band to make it look like the cake, then imbed the non-edible diamonds into the icing on the bands. Then, you could just inform the caterers to peel off the band as they are cutting the cake. Maybe even put some plastic over the tier under it incase any fall.
Like I said, I really don't know what I'm talking about. lol. But I've seen those bands. Maybe that's an option for you?
Another option might be to check at a local fabric store for rhinestone or crystal trim. It wouldn't give quite the scattered look as in the picture, but you could still get a diamond effect without having to worry about coming up with - and placing - so many little bits. It would not be a cheap option, but might be a bit easier to accomplish.
Is this the original cake? http://www.cakesbyfrancesca.com.au/
I think it may be done with silver dragees rather than crystals - these are edible so ok to use. Fran is a member on many forums (definitely Planet Cake as she is one of their instructors and I'm sure she will help you out if you contact her.)
I've used swarovsky crystals on cake before but not in this number - not sure I'd be confident of them all being removed. You could check them out for a dummy cake tho - I get them from an online company called Beadcharm, you need the non-hot fix flat backed crystals and they stick on really easily with sugar glue.
I did something like this ... i used royal icing and piped a million little dots. Then when they were dry I painted them with dry lustre dust ... you could find a diamond-y colour I am sure. Then i used tweezers to pick them up an dattached to the cake with a dab of water. It took a while, but it looked pretty!
YES! Actually, now that I see that larger photo, it DOES look like dragees and not diamonds! I think you may be in luck, here. DId she provide any larger photo for you? If not you can just let her know you were mistaken, and the sparkle is actually dragees, not gems. It's so hard to tell from such a small photo anyway. When I look at that other link, it really looks like silver balls in some areas, but they reflect the light so well it gives a nice shine, almost a sparkle. I think you can pull it off this way and it would look gorgeous! Wow. I just got all excited and it's not even my cake. lol.
http://www.blueribbons.co.uk/shop/6/102/93/index.htm
Hope this helps! I was looking for crystal drops and found them in AU!!
Yeah that's the cake. I didn't want to put the whole thing up as I didn't think it would be nice to do so! I have to modify some of it and the flowers won't be the same anyway but it was more important to get the crystals right.
http://www.blueribbons.co.uk/shop/6/102/93/index.htm
Hope this helps! I was looking for crystal drops and found them in AU!!
Hey JerseyGirl,
Which Australian website did you find them in ? These UK ones are excellent - it'd be good for me to purchase some like them in Oz though....
Thanks
On Fran's flickr page she says those are actually Swarovski crystals, there are over 700 on the cake and will be removed by the catering staff at the venue.
I was wondering about how to calculate them actually. I was going to buy a few thousand - very hard to work out - I figured there is probably 10 just in an area of 30mm.
Hi sweet... I was looking for crystal drops that hang from chandeliers that my son and his future bride are looking for. I was excited that I found them...but they were in on an Aussie site. But during my search for those, I came across the link I sent you from the UK.
Wish I could help...but if you know they have them in the UK, you may be able to email and ask if they have a distributor in AU.
Try here for diamantes in Australia:
http://www.photiosbros.com.au/
Thanks for the link - I've walked passed their shop so many times and never thought they did this kind of thing!
fondantsource. Hope it doesn't get blocked before you see it.
Wow. They actually are crystals? What a royal PITA. I cant imagine having to pick out 700 teeny bits before serving. The cake is beautiful, but honestly Id never be one to take an order like that.
Good luck with your cake, hon. I hope you find everything you need and Im sure it will turn out beautiful!
I am actually doing a Sweet 16 cake where I am using pink and clear edible diamond that I bought from Fancy Flours to put all over the cake (5 tiers!). Part of the cake is fake so I pre-started putting the edible diamonds on the fondant covered dummies. When they were on, they really did not look so great - because they looked more like bubbles than diamonds and I needed to figure out what to do, so what I tried was dipping the diamonds in disco dust - the clear ones in the rainbow colored disco dust and the pink ones in the pink disco dust - and it looks great - they is a real sparkle to them! I have to be honest, it's not going to look like Swarsky crystals, but at least you don't have to worry about having non-edible decorations on your cake and you still have a diamond look. Once the cake is done, I will take a pic.
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