
I am trying to paint soem decorations for a pillow cake and I found a spray can in asda. Turns out it has a lot of alcohol in it. I looked at the PME brand too and it has a little less probably and its ethyl alcohol. For religious reasons I can't use a spray with alcohol in it. Does anyone make a spray without alcohol? or what are my alternatives? What gold lustre powder will give me a good gold finish? It means a lot more time, but I'll have to live with it!
Thank you!!

I had this come up recently with a customer who wanted a Halal wedding cake, with no extracts, etc who wanted some gold detail on the cake.
I had to explain to her that every available option I knew of contained alcohol (gold glaze, gold mixed with lemon extract, etc.)
What we decided to do was to add gold accents to removable, inedible pieces, like the dividers and other gumpaste decorations, so she still got the gold look she wanted without offering guests something haraam.
For your pillow, I really don't know what you can use that does not contain alcohol.
Good luck!

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-705241-luster.html+dust+oil
In this thread they talk about mixing the luster dust with oil for painting.

I recently made a pancake cake for some Muslim friends (it's in my pics), and had to paint on food coloring to make the pancakes have a cooked look. I experimented with mixing oil and the food coloring, but it wasn't producing the results I wanted. So, I poked around online and found a suggestion about using lemon juice. It actually worked great! The juice takes a little longer than alcohol to evaporate, but the results were nice.
You could try mixing some gold luster dust with lemon juice and painting it on - try a test area first.
Just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck!

I had read about the lemon juice too. Glas to know it works. I don't mind it taking time to dry. I am adding on fondant/gumpaste accents with the gold so I will probably just do them a few days/week before and then stick them on the cake when it is to be served.
Thank you all. Sadly removing the gold pieces isn't really an option.

I had read about the lemon juice too. Glas to know it works. I don't mind it taking time to dry. I am adding on fondant/gumpaste accents with the gold so I will probably just do them a few days/week before and then stick them on the cake when it is to be served.
Thank you all. Sadly removing the gold pieces isn't really an option.
Yeah agreed, I wouldn't want to add gold pieces containing alcohol on them....the stress of making sure very piece had been removed would be too much.
I used lemon juice (on the gumpaste quran I made, and with the passport on my suitcase cake.) and it worked really well. You could also use clear flavourings like lemon or strawberry. (Asda do them) They seem to work well too.
Hope all goes well.


I just checked my gold airbrush colors and they do not contain alcohol, though they need to be sprayed on. I'm sure you have thought of this already, but don't forget that vanilla (for when baking the cake and the icing) often is alcohol based as well.

KoryAK, do you think she could paint (not airbrush) right on the fondant with the undiluted gold airbrush color and get good coverage since the brand you have doesn't contain alcohol? I have painted fondant with straight, undiluted airbrush colors before, but have never tried with the gold. May be worth a try?

I'd say no. I have bronze and silver airbrush spray and it isn't as potent as the dusts painted on with vodka.

Just curious...the minute amount of alcohol that is left after evaporation is so infinitesimal, you'd have to eat probably 50 plus full cakes to even have anything register in your bloodstream if then! Alcohol is present in vanilla extract and all the extracts to cook with. I'm curious as to why the complete exclusion of something that, while it does contain alchohol, that alcohol virtually dissipates after using? I mean, that's why they use it...so it evaporates quickly and leaves the color.
Honestly would like to know.

It's prohibitted by religion for some. The Quran prohibits the consumption of alcohol, so for some even traces aren't allowed.

Mormons too... they aren't allowed to consume alcohol either. Some of the fundamentalist Christian sects prohibit it too. Jehovah's Witnesses... Pentacostals... more than you'd think.

I totally forgot about the airbrush colors, how could I when I love painting with them.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2074135
I used my silver airbrush color to paint on the strips in this cake...
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2074135
... and they came out fine, so I don't see why the gold wouldn't work as well.

I've actually got the gold and silver americolor airbrush colors that i sued for brush handles a while back and they are very hard to paint on. They kind of ball up and look like mercury. I did use them with a damp tissue and dab them on but honestly a pain in the ass. I Also it started to look dull quite fast. I will add those pics to my Cake Central pics since I realised they aren't in there.
As for the alcohol, yes even the tiniest amount of alcohol is forbidden in many religions. The idea is that it is inpermissible and should be avoided even though that tiny amount cannot make you drunk, it is the principle of the thing.

LilaUK: Thank you for the comments..I have still a lot to learn.
The Quran is actually the small Quran on top of a 2 tier round ivory cake. (It was for my son when he finished memorising it...proud mummy moment!!) For the suitcase and Quran I used a luster dust called gold antique from Squires Kitchen. I can't find the actual name as the label has come off the bottle.
Please post a picture of your pillow cake. Would love to see it how it all worked out!
carmijok in the UK we tend to go for essences rather than extracts. Essences have no alcohol, well the ones in the UK don't.

Just curious...the minute amount of alcohol that is left after evaporation is so infinitesimal, you'd have to eat probably 50 plus full cakes to even have anything register in your bloodstream if then! Alcohol is present in vanilla extract and all the extracts to cook with. I'm curious as to why the complete exclusion of something that, while it does contain alchohol, that alcohol virtually dissipates after using? I mean, that's why they use it...so it evaporates quickly and leaves the color.
Honestly would like to know.
The Quran is a manual for living a fulfilling life in peace and harmony. Some people take it too literally without understanding the wisdom behind the words. Alcohol is prohibited because, when consumed in high doses it alters rational thinking. If it's taken literally, only alcohol needs to be avoided- is it then ok to have your cakes flavored with maybe cocaine or marijuana?
God has also given us the ability to think......
I don't condone people who drink(those who are prohibited to for religious reasons) but to take the alcohol thing so literally, is a little irritating. So Carmijok, I agree with you. That said, we are in the business of pleasing customers - not to change their religious views. I've had all sorts of customers, who read the same book and understand it and live it differently to the other. I don't take alcohol, never have, never will, but personally the minute amount that gets evaporated anyway, will not be an issue. I tell my muslim clients that I use vodka to paint on so if they have strong views about it, I design something that doesn't require any painting.
By the way Carmijok, love your signature....maybe I should pay heed to it.

Oh I agree totally... but, like you said, it's the customer who makes the call.

Jehovah's Witnesses are permitted to consume liquor in moderation- don't drink until you're drunk.

Jehovah's Witnesses can drink alcohol. I am unsure of many other religions, but Witnesses are OK to drink. Please get your facts straight before you spread ignorance.
I'm sure I'll get a ration of s*** for that comment, but I do not say it if it isn't a proven fact.

A
Original message sent by lilmissbakesalot
Mormons too... they aren't allowed to consume alcohol either. Some of the fundamentalist Christian sects prohibit it too. Jehovah's Witnesses... Pentacostals... more than you'd think.
I'm fairly Pentecostal in my beliefs and yet I'm drinking a fine glass of "it's Friday my cakes for tomorrow are finished" Moscato right now.
So,no. Not necessarily.

When you paint directly on fondant with any airbrush sheen color, you have to do it in one strock. Do not paint over because it is not going to look nice. Just soak your brush and do it once. I rather to use them, instead of the dusts because I have not found any dust that is edible that gives me a nice shinny look as the highlighter dust, but this last one is not edible
I was requested to make this cake by one of my customers who absolutely loved the design. In this cake we used three real tiers and two fake tiers. The two fake tiers are the ones that have the non edible diamants. The real tiers are the top, the bottom and the one that has the ribbon and the bow. I used airbrush paint with a regular brush.


I'd go with the airbrush colors. You can also dry dust over those with edible, FDA approved luster dusts and everything will be edible.
Lemon juice is pretty much lemon oil and water. The oil carries the paint, but the water can melt the surface/sugar of any icing [fondant or buttercream], a risk that I wouldn't be willing to take.

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