I am one of those 'sugar artists' who want every piece of my cakes to be edible. Though I have only been doing this for a few months, I have tried many alternative tools, techniques, and recipes because of lack of training and funding. I simply do this out of my house for friends and family. I am just starting to attempt making flowers and wanted that dust effect so many use but cannot put money into paying for those luster dusts, etc.

I also only work with marshmallow fondant since it tastes the best and to me if a cake looks perfect but tastes like crap then it is not as good as it could have been.

Anyways, an idea came to me to make my own dusts. When searching for this, the only option people really list here is to use chalk. This is a GREAT idea if you are not planning on these pieces to be eaten. This is not the case for me. So I thought, why not use sprinkles? Those small sugar sprinkles that come in a multitude of colors at grocery stores for a very low cost-of which I have a ton in my kitchen already! I tried it and it works for me! So I thought I'd share the idea for anyone else who would like to try this and make it work for them. I simply start out with the color I like and grind it into a powder.A morter and pestal would work best. I had to use odds and ends so I put my sprinkles in a tea bag strainer and pressed it through then ground it a bit more in the bowl that had caught it. Then I could simply brush this powder on the mm fondant with water/alcohol-whichever works best for you and your medium. That is it. Though keep in mind that since it is a sugar, the color it is in the bottle is darker than it will be when crushed. So if you want a deeper color, get a very dark sprinkle. Good luck and hope it works for you all as well!

I saw on Rachael Ray show this morning of how to save $$. Take regular sugar. Put it in strainer, pantyhose, etc. then take vodka and put food color in vodka. dip sugar in colored vodka. once dried crush and have colored sugar for a fraction of the price. Haven't tested but looked like it would work. Just an odea

yup it works great. You can take regular sugar, put it in a plastic bag, add wilton color to it. grind the bag around until all the color is blended into the sugar. Then either use a mortal and pestal or a put in a food processor and instant petal dusts.

thanks guys, I'll have to try that for the colors I need that arn't already in sprinkle form.

Awesome idea!

I've tried it before but it really doesn't compare to regular petal dust. The colors aren't as intense and it doesn't stick to gumpaste the same way. After I tried for a while to come up with some way of making petal dusts, I gave up and started using chalk on inedible pieces.

Making your own colored sugar works really well though...and if you add a sprinkle of luster dust to it, then you end up with really glittery sugar.

You can also make something similiar to wilton's cake sparkles...those tubes of transparent, colored flakes. Mix gum arabic, water and food coloring, then spread very thin on waxed paper and allow to dry. Peel off, break up any large pieces, and store in a jar. I've made gold flakes that way before too...mixed gold airbrush color with gum arabic and let it dry, then broke it up. Gold flakes look great on a cupcake iced with a big swirl.

I've made "gold leaf" by painting gold airbrush color on to parchment paper and letting it dry, then using it just like regular gold leaf.

can you use something other than vodka to mix the food color in?

I don't know offhand about the price of vanilla extract but I do know that you can buy a fifth of vodka for around 5 or 6 dollars.

For me, vodka produces smoother, clearer colors. A nip of vodka here is only $1. When I use extracts or water, the colors seems to clump more and are streaky on the cake. Whatever works for you!

These tips sound great! I will have to try them. Thank you much.

Funny, the vodka in my house doesn't last long at all. Neither do the cosmopolitans!

Why vodka and not gin? They're both clear and tasteless (to me anyhow).

Off the wall thought, I admit the idea came to me after I read this post and I went to a craft store to get dry paint powder to mix up some paint for a craft project, when thought occured to me: but what about using kool-aid powder? maybe can mix it maybe with some powdered sugar to blend the color make it easier to apply, rather then grinding regular sugar, plus it cheap. I might experiment with this thought...

Thnaks so much for all of the great money saving ideas ...

thanks for sharing all the great tips! can't wait to try a lot of these out!

ccc is the best!

~diem

Thanks for all the tips!