Terry’s Guide to Achieving Glossy Cakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is almost no question I get asked as much as “How do I make my cakes glossy?” I am thus dedicating this post to answering that question. As you will see below, there isn’t one way of achieving gloss on cakes. Your choice of method would depend on what you want to achieve and the type of tools/supplies you have at your disposal. Please note that not all cakes look good glossy. For some cakes like the Mickey Mouse Cake below, only certain elements need to be glossy. You should take this into consideration when designing cakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(A) STEAMING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first method is steaming. When steam is applied to fondant, it makes the fondant glossy. I use this method mostly when I am making fondant flowers as steaming sets colors and pigments on flowers and makes them glossy. This same technique can however be used on cakes. To steam cakes, you will need a hand held steamer which can be purchased on on-line retail websites like Amazon or eBay. Fill the steamers with water and follow the manufacturers instructions. Briefly steam finished cakes making sure not to use too much steam as this can make your fondant wet and lead to color bleeding. As the Safari Cake above shows, steaming leaves an almost “Wet look” on cakes. For fondant flowers and other small toppers, these can be steamed over pots of boiling water or kettles. Again, it only takes seconds for you to over steam flowers and toppers so be brief.

(2) ALCOHOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the method I use the most because I find it to be the most convenient. Brushing your finished cakes with alcohol will make them glossy. My alcohol of choice is always vodka for several reasons. Vodka has a high alcohol content, it is tasteless, colorless and odorless. What this means is that after the alcohol has evaporated, it would leave no residue of any sort on the cake. If you do not have access to vodka, any other colorless, odorless, tasteless spirit would work.  To apply vodka on cakes, use a brush and brush the surface of the finished cake. Not only would this remove any icing sugar/corn starch residue on the cake, it will also make it glossy when dry. Vodka evaporates quickly and so there is no fear of wet or sticky cakes. The picture above is a Bridal Shower Cake with Yellow Flowers.

(3) WATER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I started using vodka to add gloss on cakes, I used to use good old water. Yes, brushing your finished cakes with a bit of water would make them glossy. The gloss would however not be as evident as when the other methods discussed are used. It will however be apparent. The danger of using water however is that you can easily soak your fondant with it if you no not use it with care. Water also takes a longer time to dry. If you choose to brush your cakes with water, dip a brush lightly into a cup of water, shake it to remove excess water and brush the surface of your cakes. Less is more here. I have noticed that this method works best on darker colored fondant cakes like the Overall Cake above.

(4) ALCOHOL + CORN SYRUP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This method of achieving glossy cakes is best used on specific parts of cakes as opposed to the cake as a whole. It involves combining various ratios of alcohol (in this case vodka) with corn syrup to make a paste which is then used to brush parts of cakes. The ratio of the mixture will depend on how glossy you want the fondant to be. The glossier you want it, the more corn syrup you will use. In the Cars Cake above, this method was used to make the balloons glossy. The effect is that it makes fondant look like plastic.

(5) SHORTENING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a trick I learnt recently. Shortening can be brushed on cakes to make them glossy as the Camera Cake above shows. To do this, simply dab the tip of a brush in shortening and brush over the cake. I would advice that you use as little shortening as possible as excess could collect in crevices of the cake. I often use shortening when molding cake toppers. Applying shortening to your palms before rolling out balls and other spherical shapes will not only make the fondant smoother and make rolling easier, it will also leave molded item glossy.

(6) LUSTER DUST

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, luster dust can be used to make cakes glossy. Simply add a bit of white luster dust to alcohol and brush areas of cakes with the mixture. The result will be a glossy finish. In the Baby Cot Cake above, this method was used on the bed skirt to give it a glossy silky finish. I have another post here on how to paint cake tiers with luster dust, That post shows various techniques of achieving shine on cakes using luster dusts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For even more gloss, the the luster dust to a vodka/corn syrup mixture and brush the cake with this.