Please help. I've read a lot of the threads about painting fondant metallic. I know how to do it, either airbrush and by mixing dust with vodka. The question is: do I paint the fondant decoration gold, let dry a few days and then apply to the side of the cake or do I make the decoration, apply to the side of the cake and then paint?

In the past I've painted right on the cake but it was just a few decorations. I've also had the problem of painting outside of the decoration right on the buttercream. I'm doing a 4 tier cake with gold decorations on all 4 tiers. It's going to take forever.

What is the best way to do this?

Thank you so very much!

I would definitely apply then paint. If you paint then apply, there's a chance you can smudge the paint if it's not completely dry, or get your fingerprints on it.

You do need a steady hand to paint while it's on the cake though. So it's completely up to you and how comfortable you feel. Either way it will take forever if you plan on doing a lot of pieces.

HTH and good luck!

I agree with sweetpea, but what I do is take a brush with a slanted edge and paint a gold border on the pieces first, then apply and then fill in the rest. The border helps me from getting any color (in your case gold) on the buttercream or fondant.

HTH

Thank you very much. I'll try that. Wish me luck!!