Hi everyone! I am doing a wedding cake next month and the bride wants rustic icing with red tops. I've attached a picture of what she meant by the tops of the tiers being red (they are pink in the picture, but that is the look she wants). Do you think that the red is straight piping gel, or is it mixed with something else? I RARELY use piping gel so does it get that dried look once it sets, or does it stay glossy? I will be assembling the cake on site so if it's piping gel, that's probably not something I should do before I stack the cakes, right? If it were up to me, I would just use red buttercream but she clearly stated red icing/gel, so I am thinking she wants that shiny look. I'm sorry for all of the questions....I just have no experience with using piping gel other than to write!

Did she say no fondant? Because you could probably achieve this look by placing a round piece of red fondant on top and then painting over it with shortening.

http://bklynbrideonline.com/21763/wedding-cakes-and-food/neon-wedding-cake/

There is a blurb on the side of it that tells what it is. According to this it is a glaze.

HTH!


P.S. It is by Martha Stewart Wedding

This looks to be fondant all around. Use an already sized parchment paper to cut the of the red top and then use a ruler to measure each cake tier, roll out your fondant, cut the size strip you need to all the way around the cake then use an impression mat of your choice. You may need to trim any excess fondant that may exceed the top of each cake.

Hope this helps.

It says it's a glaze that gets its color from 'prickly pear puree'. Oh brother. You'd get the same look from a disc of red fondant and coat it in clear piping gel.

If I had to create that I would buy red Satin Ice Fondant.
As for the shine: Experiment with a piece. IN my opinion, if you cover the top of each tier with a thin circle of red fondant, all you would have to do is (brush) wet the disc with water. I think the shine would stay for at least 2 days. That's the only thing I would test first.
Of course you could cover the red fondant with piping gel, but I don't think it will be necessary.

Get a can of red piping gel, and spread it on each layer just before you stack. Spread as evenly as possible about 1/8" thick.

It will look this bright pinkish shade, it will stay shiny for 8+ hours, it will NOT dry.

i wonder if you could make a thin layer of red jello in the pans you bake the cakes in, then pop this out to sit ontop of the cake, it should have that shiny look to it then.