I've seen a couple turkey cakes on CC that have a shiny finish b/c the creator sprayed corn syrup on it. Does anyone have an idea of the ratio of water to corn syrup to get it thin enough to go through the airbrush and create a shiny finish? I'm making a guitar cake for my coworker's surprise wedding shower since he plays guitar in a local band. Of course it has to be black and shiny -- currently the hardest combination!!

TIA!!

consider using edible spray lacquer.

http://pastrychef.com/Catalog/edible_spray_lacquer_3582724.htm

this is the cheapest source I know of.

When I did my turkey, I used my airbrush for the color brown but then used a spray bottle with corn syrup and warm water. I don't know the ratio but I just diluted the corn syrup enoght so that it would flow through the spray bottle nozzle without clogging. It doesn't take much water at all! HTH!

I did a guitar once and to achieve the shiny finish, I started with tinted fondant, then brushed on some piping gel i had mixed with color. It gave a very realistic effect. If your fondant is black to begin with, I dont think you'd need to tint your gel.
Good luck!

I swear I saw a guy on Food Tv - his name is Mike that did those huge cell phone cakes, if anyone remembers that - anyway - he did them in black fondant and then airbrushed them with black color. That might also give a shiny effect, but I've never personally tried it. Just thought I'd share my little bit of knowledge about this!

you can make fondant shiny by steaming it. if you have one of those handheld steamers that would work great. i read this in a bakery magazine, the baker makes his fondant look like black patent leather for handbags.

I don't have the desire to make a huge batch of black fondant but I might need to. The party was supposed to be Thursday but might be moved up to tomorrow! We'll see!!

thanks for the suggestions.