This past weekend, I had to decorate a large 4 tier cake with gold dragees of 3, 5, and 10 mm sizes plus larger heart shaped ones and one the size of jordan almonds. I was told by my local cake supply store that the edible glue made with gumpaste and water would be strong enough to hold these onto the sides of a fondant cake. WRONG!!! What could I have used in its place to make these #$%%$% stick?

Thank you all in advance for any and all helpful tips.

DoubleA

Hi, 

i made monograms last week with pearls attached and i used tylose glue but i'm pretty sure that water would have work too.

Try to attach them with royal icing instead, i saw many videos where other cake decorators use it.

hope it helps!

Piping gel has been a go to for me but the royal icing idea is a back-up.  I am a stickler on seeing the gel or icing so I would have to play to see what I liked best that worked better.

i'm with theresacarol -- i've used piping gel -- where the dragees are applied from sea to shining sea i'd just paint/pipe on the piping gel and press them in by the handful (have the cake sitting on a board the same size as the cake) then if i had to have some trailing off by themselves i'd swipe them on the piping gel on the path to place it on the cake -- or paint the piping gel on it with a small art brush --

you needed something with some body for all those different sizes -- piping gel or royal or if they were scattered even some melted chocolate would work as glue

I don't know of piping gel would work...the gumpaste glue was quite thick and they weren't holding. but I think just for kicks and giggles I will try it to see. I do know that royal or chocolate would work. It's just that at the time, I was under some serious time constraints and had no back up plan....my mistake. Thanks K8memphis, theresacarol, and daisybee for the suggestions!

but for next time i would also poke some indents in the fondant while it's fresh for the really big items like the 10mm, the larger heart and the jordan almond sized ones --  dang that whole gravity thing -- 

or if the fondant was already too firm you could pipe a royal icing (or piping gel) blip like a raindrop & let it dry/get tacky then place the large pieces atop where the blip can help hold it up -- if you were really brave/desperate you could cut a small snip out of the surface and plunk it in the recess a little bit --

best to you -- gotta picture?