How to Airbrush a Wedding Cake

Icing provides a flat surface to airbrush.

Airbrushing lends itself well to wedding cake decoration. It allows for numerous designs unattainable through piping and ornamentation work alone, and facilitates the application of numerous themes, particularly those involving portraits and scenery. The same airbrushing technique used on other themed cakes applies to wedding cakes, but commonly used designs include beach, ocean and seasonal images. The most important aspects of airbrushing a wedding cake, other than matching the design to the theme of the wedding, include applying gentle pressure to the trigger, holding the nozzle the ideal distance from the cake surface and positioning the nozzle at the correct angle. Does this Spark an idea?

Print this article

Newspaper
Fondant- or icing-covered wedding cake
Airbrush machine
Food-grade cake-decorating paint

Instructions

- 1
  
  Sketch your design and determine the colors you need to execute it. If you don’t intend on free-handing your wedding cake, ready your stencils.
- 2
  
  Cover the work surface with newspaper to avoid overspray. Place the wedding cake on the newspaper.
- 3
  
  Fill your airbrush machine with water and perform a test spray to check for functionality.
- 4
  
  Dry the airbrush machine. Place your sketched design proximal to the wedding cake to use as a guide.
- 5
  
  Fill your airbrush with edible cake decorating paint. If you need to dilute the color, use a clear alcohol, such as vodka, as the diluting agent. Vodka evaporates quickly and doesn’t produce the runs that water-diluted color does.
- 6
  
  Position your stencil, if using one, on the wedding cake. Hold the airbrush nozzle 6 inches to 8 inches from the wedding cake.
- 7
  
  Position the nozzle at a 45-degree angle to create broad lines, such as those used for the design’s background. Position the nozzle at a 90-degree angle to create fine lines for detail work.
- 8
  
  Use a side-to-side, sweeping motion when applying color to the cake, and use a light, uniform touch on the airbrush trigger. Rinse the airbrush machine with hot water in between color changes and dry it thoroughly.
- 9
  
  Allow the color to set, approximately 30 minutes. Place any ornamentation or perform any piping work on the wedding cake after the color sets.