Edible Gelatin Sequins for Cake

Updated and far prettier…

Well, I still get TONS of questions for these lil’ beauties, so I’ve got a step-by-step photo tutorial to walk you through my edible gelatin sequins! And YES! They are edible!

Ready to get your shimmer and shine on?

 

Tools needed

1 – 1 oz. gelatin sheets (silver or gold grade)***

2 – Spoon

3 – Gold Sheen Airbrush Americolor

Ivory Americolor Gel Paste

Bright White Americolor food color

(or use any color you like, with a drop of white added)

4 – Silicone, microwave safe bowl (at least 16 oz capacity)

5 – Tall 2 quart (or more) container filled with cool water

6 – Teflon coated baking sheet (Baking Foil) or silicone coated sheet (SilPat); parchment, waxed paper, silicone coated paper, plastic wrap will NOT work for this method.

***If you don’t have or can’t get sheet gelatin, you can use this recipe HERE for powdered. Once you melt the gelatin, the method continues just the same as it does here!)

Bloom gelatin sheets in cool water by submerging it rolled into a coil so all surfaces are coated with water once it opens.

 

This is how the sheets should look sitting in their cool water bath. All cozy and friendly like.

 

Remove sheets from the water bath to the silicone bowl once hydrated, but not mushy. They should easily hold their shape.

Now. This is a tough part. They are wonderfully squishy and you’ll want to just squeeze ’em and play forever. Try not to. They DO dry out.

Microwave in 10 second intervals until melted. Do not boil.

 

Skim all bubbles and foam from the top of the liquid gelatin with a spoon. Yes, it really does matter. If you don’t you end up with little air bubble nipples on your sequins and nobody wants sequ-ipples.

 

Add 5 drops Gold Sheen Airbrush color, 4 drops Bright White, 6 drops Ivory to the liquid gelatin.

 

Stir well. Nothing bad would happen if you don’t. Just felt the need to be thorough.

 

Pour into a small squeeze bottle fitted with a Wilton number 1 tip (or equivalent).

 

Lay Teflon sheet onto a table (not on a sheet tray) and drop gelatin carefully. If it is too warm, it will simply run out of the bottle and they will spread into each other on the sheet. The mixture should be warm, but not hot. Temperature affects it’s fluidity and how quickly it drops from the bottle. It also affects the size of the drops. You’ll get the hang of it quickly.

 

See how pretty?!? Total eye candy shot.

 

Transfer the baking sheets to a sheet tray and stack them alternating to save on space and to help airflow between the sheets. Allow to dry from 4-8 hours depending on climate and humidity. Rotate the trays every so often so each sheet gets to be the favorite child and on top of the heap for a bit.

 

Once dry, they will simply move when lightly brushed with a finger. If they are sticky or resist moving at all, they are not yet fully dry.

 

Application Tools

1 – Fondant covered cake (6 inch round) with a color similar to the sequins

2 – A bucket or bowl smaller in diameter than the cake

3 – A large flat tipped pain brush

4 – Piping gel

5 – Cocoa Powder

6 – Sheet tray

 

Mix a spoonful of cocoa powder into the piping gel. This will give it a richer color beneath the sequins as well as thicken it to grab and hold the sequins more readily. And it smells yummy. (But the chocolate is only for this colored sequin. Don’t apply it beneath pink, or any other color that it wouldn’t match…)

 

Apply your sequins evenly and quickly to the cake surface. It dries faster with the added cocoa powder.

 

Apply sequins by hand using upwards motion against the cake. Don’t drag your hand, the sequins will simply scrape the surface. Allow them to fall against the cake, and gently pat them into place once they stick. Only do the sides if you are placing another tier atop this one.

 

Rest the next tier (if there is one) atop the piping gel, centered atop the sequin tier. Add sequins to the top ledge once the upper tier is securely in place.

 

Allow your sequins to dry for a few hours on you cake before handling it too much.

Yes. They are able to be placed in refrigeration without issue. If you had enough humidity in your refrigerator to melt these bad boys, you’d have far bigger problems on you hands…

Ready to get all dolled up!

 

 

 

 

If you liked this tutorial, please pin it and share it on Facebook Let’s make the whole world shimmer and shine!