I will be making my first fondant covered stacked crazy cake this weekend and I will be painting the fondant (also for the first time) I did a little practice piece today and just wanted to ask - is there a specific type of brush I should be using? does it matter, will there be the strokes in there? I tried one with a regular paintbrush and one with like a sponge brush but both pretty much left the stroke patterns, not real bad but just wanted to ask. thanks

anyone??

To paint large areas, I use a 1" sponge brush. On small areas, I use a soft sable brush. If I get stroke marks, I mix my luster dust/vodka a little thicker or go over the area again carefully with a second coat.

thank you so much for responding. if anyone else has some suggestions they are welcomed.

I agree with miriel....I use sable brushes too. Cheaper brushes I found kept losing hair! If I am unhappy with the first coat of paint, I let it dry completely before applying another and I always brush in one direction. Have you tried painting mixing powder lustre colours with a little confectioner glaze? It paints on like varnish and leaves a shine. You need isopropyl alcohol to clean your brush afterwards though. I don't do lots of painting so my advice isn't expert.

where can I get sable brushes? i have not heard of those

On the same topic, how long does it usually take to dry?

I painted some fondant flowers with a luster dust/vodka mixture and a week later, they were still sticky. Just wondering what I did wrong.

Alex

You can get sable brushes at almost all craft shops.... Walmart even carries them.... they are a tad more expensive, but worth it.....

http://www.chefrubber.com/Shopping/shopexd.asp?id=375

There you go.

i was mixing my luster dust with almond extract - will this affect the taste of the fondant?

does anyone know if the almond extract will affect the tast of the fondant - in a bad way?

tdybear1978-it shouldn't affect the taste at all. Using vodka or lemon juice just makes it dry faster.

miriel-the fondant was dry and the paint was sticky and did smudge when I touched it.

How much vodka to luster dust do u use?

I am going to be adding a little bit of vanilla extract to my fondant to give it a better taste and was just a little worried about painting the fondant with an almond flavoring, if the flavors would collide.

Aoliveira, I just mix enough vodka/extract to make it like paint consistency or that of heavy whipping cream.

AI painted some fondant dogwood flowers for a cake and they weren't drying so I put them in a low oven (170) for a couple hours to take the moisture out. They dried beautifully, I'm planning on buying a dehydrator this spring to stretch fresh fruit over the winter, I think it might come in handy for drying fondant decs too. I'm sure I just put the color on too thick. I love the look of watercolors and layered the color on for that effect. I may try drying between layers to see if I can save drying time without loosing too much of that look....