How to Make a Fondant Wedding Cake Part 2 | Step-by-Step Tutorial
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · Pearlize the Decorations · Add the Ribbon · Arrange the Flowers
Your fondant wedding cake is built, stacked, and decorated with molded borders — now it's time for the finishing touches that make it shine. In Part 2 of this series, Chef Alan Tetreault of Global Sugar Art shows you how to pearlize the lace details so they pop, wrap the base in ribbon, and arrange pre-made gumpaste flower sprays for a stunning final presentation. This picks up right where Part 1 left off.
📌 This is part of the Make Your Own Fondant Wedding Cake series: Part 1 – Covering & Stacking · Part 2 – Finishing Touches (you're here)
What You'll Need
- Super Pearl dust
- Clear edible alcohol — Everclear, vodka, gin, or lemon extract (not water — it must be alcohol-based)
- Small artist brushes (various sizes) — Chef Alan uses the Global Sugar Art sugarcraft brushes
- Satin ribbon — ⅝-inch, in a color that complements your cake (Chef Alan uses deep pink)
- Glue stick — for attaching ribbon to the base board
- Pre-made gumpaste flower sprays — Chef Alan uses large and small tea rose sprays
- Cel sticks — food-safe hollow tubes for inserting wired flowers
- Needle-nose pliers — for bending and cutting flower wires
- Petal dust and Pearl dust — for accenting the flowers
Pearlizing the Molded Decorations
This is the step that takes the cake from "nice" to "wow." All those molded lace borders from Part 1 become dramatically more detailed once they're pearlized.
↪ Mix the pearl paint
- Put Super Pearl dust into a small bowl.
- Add several drops of clear edible alcohol (Everclear, vodka, or lemon extract).
- Mix to a very liquid consistency — almost watery. If it's too thick, the paint sits on top rather than settling into the lace details.
⚠️ Don't use water. It must be alcohol or lemon extract — alcohol evaporates quickly and doesn't dissolve the decorations.
↪ Why paint on the cake instead of before?
Chef Alan specifically designed this tutorial for beginners. When you pearlize pieces before attaching them, the pearl dust gets everywhere — on your hands, the cake, the board. Painting directly on the cake gives you much more control.
↪ Application
- Start at the back of the cake so you can practice your technique where no one will see.
- Use a small brush for narrow borders, a slightly larger one for wider pieces.
- Don't overload the brush — you want a light, even coat that highlights the detail without dripping.
- Don't forget the top edges — if the cake will sit on a low table, guests will see the top of each tier.
As the alcohol in your mixture evaporates, the paint will thicken. Add a few more drops of alcohol as needed.
↪ Alternative approaches
- Dry dusting: Brush dry Pearl dust onto the pieces before attaching them (messier but common)
- Colored accents: Use petal dust or luster dust to paint the roses pink and leaves green before or after attaching
Adding the Ribbon
Wrap a ⅝-inch satin ribbon around the base board (the half-inch masonite or foam board covered with fondant). Use a glue stick to attach it — start at the back, wrap all the way around, and overlap slightly.
💡 Match the ribbon to something on the cake. Chef Alan chose a deep pink to coordinate with the gumpaste flowers. The ribbon visually anchors the bottom of the cake with color.
Arranging the Sugar Flowers
↪ Top arrangement
- Take a large gumpaste tea rose spray and push all the wires into a cel stick (a hollow food-safe tube).
- Color the petals with petal dust and pearl dust for extra depth.
- Push the cel stick into the center of the top tier, angled slightly forward.
- Adjust the individual flowers and leaves — everything is on wires, so they're easy to reposition.
↪ Side arrangements
- Take two small tea rose sprays, color and accent them.
- Cut about an inch of wire off the bottom with pliers.
- Bend the remaining wire back at the base.
- Insert a cel stick into each side of the cake, then push the wires into the cel stick.
- Arrange so the flowers cascade down the sides, framing the front of the cake.
Materials Recap
The cake uses: - Karen Davies Alice Lace mold — larger version for the bottom tier, smaller for the top tier - Karen Davies Piped Rose border mold — for the middle tier accent - Global Sugar Art Rose border mold — for the base of the top and bottom tiers - Super Pearl dust + alcohol — for the pearlized finish - Pre-made gumpaste tea rose sprays — large for the top, small for the sides
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
