Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi,
I am going to do my first wedding cake which needs to have shimmer effect in pale gold & dusk pink. Can anyone recommend a good brand for shimmer? I will be using Carma massa in bride white. Is it easier to colour my sugar paste first in pink & Ivory before adding shimmer or can I start with white? The next question is what is the best liquid/medium to dissolve luster? Is lemon extract good? I am unable to purchase food grade high concentration alcohol over in Ireland. What type of brushes to use on the cake to apply shimmer? Would you use Artistic brushes?
Thank you xx

Personally I wouldn’t use lemon extract on large surfaces. Some strong extracts can leave an unpleasant taste in the sugarpaste. You may be able to get high concenration alcohol on Amazon Ireland or perhaps try Irish online cake decorating sugarcraft supplies stores. It may also be possible to purchase the alcohol from UK suppliers who can deliver to your region. Failing all this, shimmer can be applied to cake using shimmer glaze, which I know is available in Ireland via decorating supplies shops. Another method is to apply a very thin coat of vegetable fat on the surface of the cakes and then apply shimmer with a large round brush such as used for cosmetic blushers or with a very soft shaving brush. Please take a peek at the following tutorial for this method: http://www.karascouturecakes.com/how-to-make-your-cake-shimmer/

I know dusts can be used with water but I really would not recommend using it for such a vast area as it would take a long time to dry and most likely to damage the sugarpaste. Hopefully other members will chip in with other ideas.

Thanks for the reply madeitwithlove. One tier would be Pale Gold & the other in Blush Pink. would you recommend to start off with ivory & pale pink sugar paste & then apply luster in gold & pink respectively or can I paint luster on white sugar paste?
Thanks

Cake stuff have just started selling Fahye Cahill dusts, I have not tried them, but heard good things. Wide brush would be best, make sure it does not shed bristles. I would try the colour over white just cover a board in white roughly, and practise on that and decide if you like it or if you need to colour the sugarpaste.

I find giving the sugarpaste a very light tint of the intended colour helps reduce the number of shimmer coats required. Although starting on white or ivory base works just as well. I just use Sugarflair shimmers, however there is much talk of Rolkem being the best for coverage. I haven’t used it so can’t vouche the claim.

I used Rainbow Dust Metallic Ginger Glow on a cake mixed with a small amount of clear alcohol .It was painted onto white sugarpaste and took a couple of coats but pleased with the result .Sorry won’t let me post a pic .