I'm making an under the sea cake, and wanted to use seashells on outside. Is it better to use fondant or gumpaste? Or I've even seen melted chocolate...but not sure how to actually paint melted chocolate....tips are appreciated

The shells here were made of a mix of fondant and gumpaste. I didn't have a mold for them so I shaped them on a shell shaped sugar spoon. They're painted with Wilton bronze pearl dust mixed with vodka.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1967733

wil this help?


http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-634043-.html

I use mashmallow fondant for making seashells. I used different colors of fondant and then marbled it with usually the original color fondant (white to off-white) and put it in the candy molds that you get at Michael's. I dust the candy mold with corn starch to keep fondant from sticking. They have dried a little, I paint them with water or alcohol. I made a Little Mermaid cake and put these all around it and people thought they were real shells! People could not believe they were edible. The kids were eating them like candy.

The shells in my pics are made with melted white chocolate, and Ive used melted candy melts also, used a brush and colored them with petal dust.

I use white chocolate and molds too. You can find a few different molds if you look around...the Wilton mold makes big shells but Hobby Lobby carries a mold that makes smaller ones.

I made this about 2 yrs. ago.. I used chocolate molds and others by freehands... the luster makes a huge difference. it make them look real.. the fishes I copied from Kerry Vincent in her Romantic Wedding Cakes book..

wow those are beautiful! I ended up using marbled fondant, even though I bought white chocolate but was pressed for time, and didn't want to experiment with melting chocolate. I have got to pick up some luster dust and try, what a difference!!