Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi
I painted a sugar paste model on Saturday evening. By Sunday evening it was still tacky, and the matt paint had taken on a fairly high sheen.
Any ideas where I may have gone wrong would be great thanks.

The model in question was a hamster, for the hamster cake I recently made (fererence my previous questions for advice). It turned out pretty well, other than the tacky paint job. But the recipient was really pleased her birthday cake.

Hi bellscakes

Pleased to hear the cake turned out well even though you had some problems with the painting.

You haven’t mentioned the method of painting you have used. I find the best method for hand painting is with powdered colours thinned down with food grade rejuvenator spirits. Gradually build up the colour by layering thin applications, allowing each layer to dry before painting again. Rejuvenator spirit dries very quickly, so the wait time is minimal, and it doesn’t leave a sheen. It can also be used with gel colours.
Some people prefer to use lemon juice, however that can sometimes take longer to dry and occasionally leave a taint. Another popular method is airbrushing which is used by many professionals. I don’t recommend using water to mix colours as it leaves cake icing or models wet and tacky which finally dries with a high sheen and can sometimes also cause crazing. Water and sugar are not compatible substances.
Here’s a link for rejuvenator spirits:

Food Grade Rejuvenator Spirit

Ps please check colours says edible on the label. Some colours are not edible and although sold alongside cake decorating colours, they are used only for display model pieces.

Please let me know if this helps. 🙂

Hi madeiwithlove

Thank you, and for the painting advice.

I used 2 edible gel colours, one was a professional gel and the other, though I hadn’t noticed at the time of buying, was an in-store edible gel colour in a tube that looked identical to the first one I mentioned. Perhaps that may explain why it was thinner. However, rightly or wongly I added a little gin to mix both these colours. and proceeded from there. Do you think the addition of the gin made it too wet? I do have an airbrush but as the hamster was relatively small, thought it would just be easier to hand paint instead, famous last words!

I think I’ll need to buy some more coloured edible powder.

Yes, the gin was the culprit 🙂 I used to use vodka which was ok for tiny items. I prefer the rejuvenator spirits, that’s what it’s designed for. Not all gel colours are equal strength, it will be apparent when the colour is applied as it tends not to be quite as vibrant. I use both gel and powder colours. Powder colours are more useful for chocolate making as they don’t change the consistency of liquids. They’re also great for mixing up as paints. Paul has his own brand which a lot of people rave about. I’ll get the link for you and post back. Alternatively, the cake decorating company has a lot of choices and you may be able to get a discount as you’re CakeFlix member. To see if you’re eligible for discount, go to you profile on CakeFlix and see what is available to you. 🙂

Here’s the link:
https://sugarinuk.com/