ACan anyone recommend a technique to get fondant/gumpaste/royal icing to be very silver?? I've used luster dust (painted wet with vodka) and I'm not impressed. Do I need to breakdown and buy an airbrush machine? Please share your advice and tips for getting your goodies to be truly silver. Thanks!

a few days ago, I coloured my gumpaste  grey and then dry brushed the sterling super pearl dust on top..that worked better for me than using silver dust mixed with alcohol. It's still subtle but turned out nicer than when I applied the wet silver luster dust on.....I would love to hear though what others have tried...

You can buy a spray in a bottle. Both PME and Wilton make a silver that works pretty well. Just be prepared for little specks of silver to be all over everything afterwards! You can do a couple of coats fro really metallic silver.

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=710-5521

AI have tried quite a few different lustre dusts and I really like the Rainbow Dusts Light Metallic Silver for a bright silver.

Rainbow Dust makes a silver paint that goes on with a paint brush
 

For a real silver finish, nothing beats real silver leaf (edible and 99% pure).

There are several wedding cakes I've done with this finish, and also in gold, and I have not found anything else gets quite the same result!

I love the silver leaf effect,  but it's a nightmare to apply, and can easily look messy......do you have any tips on how to apply it?

AI would also love some instruction. Silver leaf looks intimidating! Thank you for all of the recommendations.

Throw my name on the pile - I need some tips on working with it too.  

I brush the surface with a watered down corn syrup/water mixture and make sure there is a very thin and even coat. Let it dry a bit but still tacky. I make sure there is no air blowing around the room, and I carefully lay on the sheet and smooth it down with a gloved hand. Fill in where it needs it, and that's about it. 

I agree with AZCouture....I also use one of those very fine "fan' brushes to smooth it down. Its worth noting you can overlap it with no bulges as its so thin.

I also recommend working with silver before trying gold, as gold is more than twice the price!

thank you for the instruction, AZCouture

thank you, evoir, overlapping is my friend!!

prolly use it this year for family wedding

Smooth is down with a glove......... I've found this always lifts it back off? What type (fabric) of glove do you use?

Even though the I think the air is still, i'll find the 'leaf' moves somewhat, how do you fill in gaps etc? When I've tried to do it other bits get moved!

If you've ever considered doing a video tutorial I think people would pay to watch it!
 

If it's not secured well already, yeah it will move on you. It's really a "gotta do it once and you'll get it" kind of thing. It's really a feel as you go kinda thing. You can see that it's adhered well so you can smooth a little harder. Or you can see that it's floating a little bit and if you touch it, yeah it's going bye bye. If there's a video tute out there on gilding in general, like is done on wood or plaster, you can pick up tips that way. It's pretty much the same thing. I want one of those brushes though, and will probably work with one of those next time.

I would get a dummy, cover it in fondant, and buy some of the non edible sheets at the craft store to practice with. That will get you off in the right direction.

I will practice in advance but in the meantime--i'm going to try & apply it to smbc for a look like this

i can put the shabby in shabby chic!

unless i need to use a crusting bc

how does it do in the frige i wonder

Ak8 - you think they were going for shabby chic and not lazy? I've never seen a bc cake iced so messily!

i love that cake, the color, the size, the texture texture texture

yes it might appear messy but i think there's an undeniable beauty

i think if ms monet baked claude a cake it'd look like that