For years, I’ve been seeing my Instagram caker friends post photos of metallic gold buttercream cakes. Like, really shiny ones. After doing a bit of research into how to get the look, I decided to order the Rolkem Super Gold luster dust and try my hand at it. I’ve seen a lot of cake makers use that mixed with a little vodka to paint their buttercream cakes for a flawless metallic look. Here’s the thing though, while I was absolutely blown away by the shiny gold finish, I realized that there has been a recall on Rolkem Super Gold because (the batch I ordered at least) contains high levels of copper, which is not the healthiest for consumption. It’s FDA approved in some countries, but not the USA, so I wondered if after swooning over this amazing gold finish I could actually find a comparable option that is FDA approved worldwide.
This wonderment sent me on a quest to find the best product for a perfect metallic buttercream finish: one that’s as shiny as Super Gold, as easy to paint with (aka I wouldn’t have to paint a million coats), and of course, one that is universally FDA approved for eating. After scouring the internet and reading countless reviews, I ordered three to try: King’s Gold by CK Products, Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton, and Glamorous Gold by Edible Art Paint. I made a little video to show you how they look in action:
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Important Tips For Painting On Buttercream
Whether you’re painting a metallic finish or a non-metallic finish, it’s important to start with the right consistency of whatever you’re painting with, the right brush for the job, and a solid cake finish. All three of these things can make or break the final outcome. Here are my best tips for success:
First, to avoid messing up your final coat of buttercream, you must start with a well-chilled cake. After applying my final coat of buttercream, I place the cake in the refrigerator for a good 30 minutes or more, until the finish is hard to the touch.
Second, you need a good brush that won’t leave a ton of bristles in your paint job. This brush by Innovative Sugarworks is a great one, made specifically for cake decorating so you can rest assured that the bristles are made from high quality synthetic fibers and are safe for use with food. Your local craft store might have good brushes, but make sure they’re made with the right bristle fiber because a lot of paint brushes are made with animal hair. After all, the last thing you want is horse hair ending up on your cake!
And finally, you’ll need the right consistency of edible paint to get the look you’re going for and the best mixing solution to help the finish dry quickly. When working with luster dusts, you’ll need an alcohol solution to mix with so the liquid evaporates after you paint with it. Some cakers prefer vodka, but I always use grain alcohol to mix luster dusts with.
Grain alcohol can be found at your local liquor store (it’s also known as Everclear), and at 180 proof it has the highest alcohol content of any alcohol. The higher the alcohol content, the faster it will evaporate from your cake and leave you with that shiny gold finish you’re pining for. If you only have vodka or lemon extract on hand, those will work as well, they’ll just take longer to dry.
The Best FDA Approved Products For A Metallic Buttercream Finish
To my amazement, I ended up really liking all three of the products I tried for metallic finishes. There was one that stood out above the rest (read all about it below!) for color and ease of use, but all three will work depending on the color you need. Be sure to watch this video to see them all in action.
Glamorous Gold By Edible Art Paint
Rating: 10/10
Spoiler alert: this one was my absolute favorite of the three products I used. It comes in a bottle pre-mixed with the right amount of alcohol solution, so you don’t even have to worry about making that extra trip to the liquor store. Edible Art Paints come in all sorts of colors, metallic and non-metallic, and the Glamorous Gold was the perfect shimmery gold color I was after.
The finish dried in about ten minutes and I found that one coat was sufficient for applying to the cake. I was worried about it looking streaky, but after the first coat dried, it ended up looking really uniform.
King’s Gold by CK Products
Rating: 9/10
The King’s Gold by CK Products is a luster dust, so you will need to mix it with a solution like everclear (or vodka!) to make it paintable. After mixing it with everclear, the luster dust dissolved really well and ended up being a breeze to paint with. Here’s how it looked after one coat:
My reasoning for the lower rating is mainly because of the color and the semi-streakiness. King’s Gold was a bit vibrant for my liking, but they do make some other metallics that I would be interested in trying (there’s a Shiny Gold that looks a bit more like the color I was after). After painting a second coat, the streaks are diminished.
Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton
Rating: 7/10
The best thing about Gold Pearl Dust by Wilton is that it’s more commonly found at your local craft store. It’s a luster dust that you’ll need to mix with an alcohol solution to make it paintable, but I found that the dust didn’t dissolve as well as other luster dusts I’ve used, making it a little more grainy of a finish.
The color was also more of a champagne gold, and to my knowledge it’s the only gold metallic color option available from Wilton. If that’s the color you’re going for though, I’d totally recommend trying it. The finish ended up being shiny after two coats, although still a little streaky.
If you’re looking for the best metallic buttercream finish that’s FDA approved and edible, I would definitely recommend any of these three, my favorite being Edible Art Paint. Remember that any time you paint on buttercream, make sure you start with a well-chilled cake that’s firm to the touch. Let me know if you end up trying any of these recommendations in the comments below, or if you know of other FDA approved solutions that work well!
I am making wedding cookies with the first name of the couple..they will be iced in royal icing and stenciled with royal icing..will I be able to paint the names on the dry icing with the edible art paint..?
Hi Debby! Although I have never personally painted royal icing with Edible Art Paint I have seen it done many times. Here’s some FAQ’s from their website if that’s helpful: https://sweetsticks.com.au/edible-paint-faq/
Hi there x
This article is fantastic and exactly what I needed as I was completely lost when it came to metalic cakes!x
A few quick questions though if yoy don’t mind….. Does edible paint always have to be diluted or can it be used straight from bottle?x Also, (this one might sound really silly and obvious) if someone is Alcohol free and you use vodka to dilute, then would that mean it is unsuitable or because the alcohol evaporates, does that make it ok? Did yoy say lemon juice was ok to use instead?x many thanks x
Hi Jessica! The Edible Art Paint comes ready to paint, no need to dilute it. And since the alcohol evaporates once dry, the cake shouldn’t have any alcohol content at all, making it perfectly safe for a sober person. I have tried lemon juice as the liquid before and it just takes forever to dry, which is why I prefer grain alcohol. Hope that helps!
Is there any issues with using edible paint on wilton fondant?
Hi Amanda! I’ve never tried painting fondant, but according to Edible Art Paint’s web site, fondant works perfectly as a painting surface.
Hello! I’m trying to create a gold look with the Wilton pearl dust for a cake as I did not have time to have the gold paint shipped to me.
When I added almond extract to the pearl dust, it gave it a green color. Do you have any suggestions?
The gold is the focus of the cake.
Thank you!
Hi Brianna! So sorry that your pearl dust is turning green! I’ve actually heard of that happening to Wilton Pearl Dust before and when you Google “Wilton Pearl Dust turned green” you’ll see a bunch of reviews like that. It didn’t turn green when I mixed it with grain alcohol, so it may be the chemical reaction made with the almond extract. I’m not quite sure. My only suggestion would be to try it with grain alcohol as suggested in this post and get a bottle of the edible art paint for next time!
This was incredibly helpful! Thank you kindly!
So happy to help, Kathy!
Hi! How many bottles of the Edible Art Paint (15ml size) do you think you would need to paint a 3-layer 6-inch round cake? Thanks!
Hi Erika! You should only need one bottle. It goes a long way!
A few reviews I read said the Edible Art one had a bad taste. How would you say the taste compares?
Hi Serina! The Edible Art does have a bad flavor if you taste it straight from the bottle. If you let it dry thoroughly though it shouldn’t have a bad taste (at least in my experience). Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney! I am making a red velvet cake and wanted to know your opinion on using this on cream cheese frosting
Hi Danielle! As long as the cream cheese buttercream you’re using is a crusting buttercream that gets firm in the refrigerator, it will work!
Hello, thank you for the information! Have you ever tried using dust with a roux frosting or over a white chocolate ganache? Wondering if I should attempt to dust it rather than paint it… Or can the dust be mixed right into the frosting and spread on?
Hi Kathryn! I’ve actually never made a roux frosting (but yum!). The dust isn’t concentrated enough to be mixed into the frosting or dusted on without the added alcohol, and to create metallic drips you’ll need to drip with melted white chocolate or candy melts rather than ganache (you need something that sets up firm before painting it). The best route for the frosting will be to use a crusting buttercream that sets up firm in the refrigerator. Hope that helps!
Hi 🙂
Would you recommend investing in the Sweet Sticks Lustre Dust, Edible Paints or their recent Water-Activated Palette?
I bake as a hobby, and wanted to add some gold or silver outlines to my buttercream flowers but I am confused with which product to purchase.
I would also prefer not to mix alcohol with the paints or dust
Hi Manseeb! I have only ever used their Edible Art Paint, but I loved using that and do recommend it especially if you don’t want to worry about mixing alcohol with it (it does contain alcohol already). I’ve never tried the other two products you mentioned, so what I would do is research the other two to see what the reviews are and make a decision from there.
Hello! When your finished with the cake do you store it in the fridge or keep it out to air dry when using edible art paint?
Hi Samantha! I always store my cakes in the refrigerator after decorating, but you can certainly leave it out at room temp if you’re planning on serving it within the next few hours. The paint will dry in the refrigerator just fine.
Hi, has anyone had any luck painting edible gold on black buttercream? Be glad of any tips.
Hi Lea! I have splatter painted a black cake with gold edible art paint before! It worked great.
hey!
Can I use the edible art paint ontop of cream cheese frosting?
I’m making a cake and it’ll be covered with cream cheese frosting,
will it be okay to use after I chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or so?
Hi Maimuna! It should be totally fine with cream cheese frosting after chilling the cake!
If I use wilton pearl dust, or wilton edible cake paint will those be safe to use? Also, when mixing vodka in, does it stay on the cake, (like is it okay for children to eat a cake that’s painted with luster dust and vodka)?
Hi there! The Wilton products are safe to use, and when you mix it with vodka, the alcohol evaporates as it dries, so by the time the kids eat it there shouldn’t be a high enough alcohol content to be deemed unsafe for consumption.
Can you confirm that these are non toxic and actually edible? Im reading that some gold dusts are for decorative use only but are using the “edible” paint and people are getting sick. In other words using it wrong.
I just want to be sure that Im using this safely so that no one ever gets ill.
Safety first! Thank you so much!
Hi there! The reason I chose these specific products to test is because they are FDA approved for consumption. The product links provided in this post lead to more info about them, including their FDA approval.