I'm new here, and aspire to (and am inspired by) the quality and diversity of cakes and talent that you all display here.

After decorating a few cakes using coloured fondant, I now want to experiment with painted icing, both piped and rolled, but after quite a few tries, I still cant get an even finish on my rolled icing. I've tried painting on both wet and dry fondant, pastillage and gumpaste using powdered colour mixed with water and lemon juice. I know most instructions state alcohol to mix with your colour, but at the moment if I could afford alcohol I'd drink it, not mix colour with it! Or does it really make that much difference? I've watched utube videos where they use water and get a good finish, so I'm wondering if I'm missing some other crucial point.

Any help would be muchly appreciated.

the thing with using the alcohol to mix the colors with, is that the alcohol will evaporate when exposed to the air leaving just the color behind. painting with water doesn't do that. i've tried both methods and i prefer the alcohol. all i use is the $5 bottle of vanilla vodka at my local store. the cheap stuff is just as good as the more expensive stuff when it comes to painting with for me. but i do get a flavored vodka, just in case there is a lingering flavor from it...i've never had this happen but my luck it would when i have an important cake to do. hope this helps!

Thanks cheffjess, I'll give it a try today.