Our September issue contributor, Saloni Salvi shares a gorgeous mini-tutorial for a sparkling fondant-effect. Add a touch of glamour and sparkle to your cakes with this shimmering sugar-mix!

COMPONENTS

3 tier cake finished with ganache

White Fondant

Gel Colors in royal blue, navy blue, regal purple, eggplant, gold and black

Pearlized sanding sugar

Ziploc bags

Medium consistency royal icing in a piping bag

Vegetable shortening

Brush

Parchment paper

Dresden tool

Pasta roller with spaghetti attachment

12” diameter cake board

Blue Ribbon

Gum paste for flowers

Petal Dust

Gold Dust

Piping Gel

TO PREPARE

Split, fill, crumb coat and base coat individual cakes with ganache measuring 10″, 8” and 6″ in diameter.

Mixing the Fondant Colors

STEP 1

Buy pre-colored Satin Ice purple and navy fondant to cover the cakes or follow the fondant color guide below to tint white fondant and obtain dark colors.

Saloni Notes: If coloring fondant, I like to let it rest for a few hours after coloring to allow the colors to develop. This allows you to decide if you need to add more gel color to the fondant or not so as to obtain the desired shade.

Fondant Color Guide

Navy Blue: 3 parts navy blue + 2 parts royal blue + a touch of black

Royal Blue: 3 parts royal blue + 1 part regal purple + a touch of black

Dark Purple: 3 parts regal purple + 1 part eggplant + a touch of royal blue + a touch of black

Saloni Notes: Adding purple to make blue and vice versa helps make the colors more vibrant.

STEP 2

Cover the top tier in navy blue fondant, the middle tier in royal blue fondant, and the bottom tier in dark purple fondant. When covering cakes in dark fondant, dust off excess powdered sugar using a fluffy brush.

Making the Sparkling Sugar

STEP 3

Start with pearlized or silver sanding sugar in a Ziploc bag. Add navy blue and black gel colors in drops and mix thoroughly. Continue to add drops of gel colors until the desired darkness is reached. The sanding sugar will be slightly wet at this point.

STEP 4

Empty contents of the Ziploc bag containing the colored sanding sugar into a parchment lined tray. Preheat oven to 100 degrees F and then turn off. Leave the sugar to dry in the warm oven for a couple of hours. Make sure that the oven is not extremely hot as this could cause the sugar to caramelize. Once dry, the sanding sugar will set in the tray like a sheet. Crush up by hand to separate the crystals again.

Applying the Sugar 

STEP 5

Brush the tier you wish to cover liberally with piping gel, making sure to cover the sides and the top of the cake completely. Place the cake inside a large cake pan, with a smaller cake pan inside but upturned. Liberally sprinkle the blue sanding sugar onto the cake and gently press to adhere to the cake. Use a large fluffy brush to remove any excess. For extra sparkle, you can add a small tsp of glitter dust, but bear in mind that this is simply non-toxic and not intended for consumption.

Saloni notes: It’s important that whatever color of sanding sugar you wish to use, that the base fondant is color-matched as closely as possible as this will give the most flawless finish.