Sequined tiers continue to be an elegant trend in cake decorating. There are a few different ways to achieve this dressed-up look, but today I’m going to show you our favorite method! We are also sharing an oversized wafer paper flower that is not only beautiful with it’s layered petals, but also very simple to make! Enjoy the tutorial! –
Materials:
While this method would be beautiful in any size and shape of cake tier, we are using a 6″ double barrel cake construction. (If you have questions about double barrel cakes, you can find everything you need to know in our Double Barrel video tutorial. This construction involves two cake cardboards, and 4 supports within the bottom half of the tier.)
Buttercream (We used our fluffy vanilla buttercream recipe which is a medium consistency.)
White Chocolate Chips – We used Nestle (two 12 oz packages)
Gold Luster Dust (edible/non-toxic) -*see more details in notes below
Vodka or lemon extract (a high alcohol content allows the gold “paint” to dry quickly)
Soft paintbrush for applying gold paint
Coloring Gel- We tinted our buttercream with Americolor Gold for a golden/ivory shade.
For the Flower:
Wafer paper – 3 sizes of petals…plan on approx 6 petals each.
Lollipop stick for anchor
ball of gum paste or fondant
Dragees or your sugar pearls/sprinkles of choice for the flower center
Pearl Dust (optional)
Table knife for curling petals
toothpick (or sharp tool)
Notes
*Make sure that your gold luster dust is edible/non-toxic. I used Rolkem Super Gold. If you have other favorite brands of edible gold luster, I would love to hear! While I really love the gold sheen of this brand, I haven’t been able to find a US vendor–only Australia–so it takes a bit longer to arrive! ;0) The container itself does not say edible/non-toxic…but the site that I ordered from did and so that’s what I’m going with! Use whatever luster you’d like…silver, gold, pearl, would all be very striking.
*The chocolate chips do make for a heavy cake (much like a thick ganache), so make sure to use sturdy supports if doing a tiered cake!
*At the end of the tutorial, I demonstrated using confetti sprinkles (glued to fondant with piping gel) which were then painted. On the plus side, sprinkles can be applied much more quickly to the cake by the handful (over a pan to catch the excess!) – However, I really liked the look of the chips because of the larger and therefore more reflective surface…plus, the white makes for easy paint coverage. Both are great options though. Kara Andretta of Kara’s Couture Cakes has a great YouTube video for very realistic gelatin sequins also if you are interested in researching other options!
Wow! That is gorgeous! I love it! So clever to use chocolate chips. I think using the chips looks magnificent. Love it :)
How did you find the “paint” dried when applied to a very cold surface as it came back to room temp. Any bleeding or sweating off of the gold? How long did it take to fully dry?
Love the flower too – so pretty!
Thanks MsGF! I’m glad that you liked it! We had no issues with bleeding or sweating. As long as you chill the room temperature cake just until the frosting is firm, the sweating (if any) will be minimal. You don’t have to chill if the frosting is a crusting buttercream or even a ganache that has set.. but chilling allows you to work more quickly because you don’t have to be as gentle with the paintbrush. ;0)
I didn’t check to see how long it took for the paint to dry but I’m guessing I waited maybe 20 minutes before doing touch ups here and there!
Thank you Melissa for the great video. This method is way cheaper to do than the others. I can’t wait to try it. :-)
Thanks Yashira!! I’m so glad that you like the video!
Thanks Melissa for the answers. I will give this a try. Using chocolate chips is much more appetizing than the other methods.
Brilliant Melissa. Simple but very beautiful x
Anther great tutorial Melissa!!! I can’t wait to make this cake!!!
This is a beautiful cake Melissa, I am going to enjoy trying this one out. Thank you so much for your tutorials you inspire me to bake and decorate. Julie. X
What an absolutely stunning design!! Love it!!!
Thank you all so much for your comments! xoxo
Beautiful! Could you use the color mist sprays instead of painting with the luster?
This cake is beautiful, and I can’t wait to try this idea. I’m making a cake for a baby shower, and it will have a moon on the top. I’m going to try to cover the moon with the gold covered chips. Thanks for the good idea!
@Dana– I think that airbrushing could work….I haven’t had great results with the gold color mist sprays in the past. The ones I’ve tried are pretty dull and don’t cover as well. Pearl mist could be an option though!
@Judy- That sounds great!
I used the sprinkles technique in a different way. I laid all the multi colored sprinkles on a paper towel. Took out all the blue. I lightly brushed a batch of sprinkles with clear vodka. Then I toss them in a container with luster dust. Shake shake it up. The gold sprinkles I placed on a paper towel to dry. I dyed the icing closest to the color gold I could. Let chill. Then a handful at a time I patted the cake with gold sequins. THIS IS A LONG PROCESS to cover a 10″ round cake with layers of cake. YET also well worth it. :) I attached a picture for you to see. I hope you can see the cake I made. :)
Hi Teresa! Your cake is beautiful!
Gosh Melissa.. how are you so clever…lol such a brilliant cake. Teresa your cake is stunning…
Anyone knows if this will work with stabilized whipped cream frosting? Will the chocolate chips stick?
Hi Kristine, I am sorry but the stabilized whipped cream won’t be firm enough to use with this technique.
It was not mentioned here to use a small white chocolate chips. i ended up using the big chips. I didn’t notice it was different until after everything is covered. My cake still looks good, but maybe better if I use the small ones :) Will post the picture of the cake later. Thank you.
Hi Kristine- I used regular sized white chips! ;0) Mine were Nestle …maybe they vary slightly in size from brand to brand? I thought the larger ones reflected the light better than when I tried same technique with small sprinkles…I’m sure that your cake is beautiful!
This is a pretty cake and Teresas cake too. Here in Australia Rolkem gold is so popular that I buy a few of these containers at a time.
Its worth getting these. I love your idea using the chocolate chips . Thank you for sharing Melissa
Thanks Angela! I really love Rolkem too–wish it wasn’t so hard to find here!! xo
Here is the picture…
Ms. Melissa, I bought my Rolkem at etsy.com. Look for the seller Artsyedibles.
Beautiful job!!! Thanks for the link, that is great to know! xo
I absolutely LOVE this idea with the white chocolate chips!! I have seen some of the tutorials online with the sprinkles and I haven’t really liked the outcome. THIS is beautiful! Thank you SO much for this excellent tutorial! :)
@Kays Cupcakes- Thank you so much! xo
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has tried this with silver instead of gold.
Hi Malou- If you have a silver luster that you like, I think that you would be happy with the look! I haven’t done this cake in silver but have seen some very nicely done silver sequined cakes. My gold has a bit more luster than my silver dust, and so I went with gold. Have fun experimenting!
Okay, thank you so much! i don’t need it til March so I have plenty of time to play with it.
Loved the tutorial. and will definitely be trying the sequence and the flower.
Has anybody tried this with an airbrush?
Just did a very small cake to attempt this with an airbrush using Americolor’s Super Gold airbrush color. Worked beautifully! I got a little worried that it kind of beaded a bit the first coat, so I put a small fan on it to help it dry. After second coat, it looks perfect! Love this technique!
Hi Traci!! Thanks so much for your feedback about airbrushing, I’m so glad that it worked for you. The cake looks great!! ;0)
Hi, would this work if I use a ganache on a cake? Thanks!
Hi Luna, I think this should work just fine as long as the ganache is the consistency of frosting so that the chips can easily be pushed into position. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Melissa, I’m planning to make this today and I was wondering if this cake will be okay on a 100 degree weather. You think the chocolate chips will melt? Thanks!
Hi Luna- Will the cake be outside? I would chill the cake before transporting and keep the cake indoors for as long as possible. You wouldn’t want to keep it in that kind of heat for long. (Same with buttercream frosted cakes.)
My sequence cake
Hi Nelka, Your cake is lovely, you did a great job!!
Thanks BeBe :)
Hi! I made this cake in silver and used it as the top tier of a 25-th Anniversary cake. The silver “paint” made from vodka and luster dust didn’t cover as well as the gold in your video. But, I went and got a spray can of Wilton silver spray color and did a couple of coats of that after the paint dried, and it looked great in the end. Thanks so much for this tutorial!
What a gorgeous cake! Thanks for your feedback and for sharing your photo! xo
looks amazing can i use mocha frosting instead of food dye?
Hi Adina, Yes, it is fine if it gives you the color you like.