I used an actual string of pearls. Like you can buy by the yard in craft stores.

I draped them and put a rose where they attached to the cake.

The lady who cut the cake just pulled them off when she started to cut that layer. Worked great.

patti

After re-reading , I see you say "all over"...does she mean like poka dots? If so the real pearl would not work at all for that...I used them for swags, draped around the top of each layer. Sounds like a lot of work to me.
Good luck. I hope you post a pic. of the finished project.

patti

Yes, they are all over the cake. The bottom layer which will be 16 inches has them in slanted rows about 1 inch apart with 6 to the row. It is certainly going to be a lot of work. She is a special young lady to our family and the cake is our wedding present to her.

Thanks for your help - if you have any more suggestions I am listening!

Thelma

Has anyone used fondant. I bought a box at Walmart and am going to tty to roll out small balls to put on the cake.

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

Thelma

Couldn't you use royal icing and pipe them on to parchment, then peel them off and stick them on the cake? That way you could make a whole lot of them, and only use the ones that came closest to being equal in size.

They would be better off flat on the back than round balls anyway, to adhere propery to the cake and look like pearls, not warts! LOL

Wilton sells edible pearl dust, so that once you piped those on the parchment and they dry, you could dust them with the pearl dust for a wonderful soft, pearl glow.

wilton pearl dust

I'm w/Les on this. Defiitel use Royal icing and a size 2 tip. It just takes practise to get your 'balls' uniform is size. Twist your pastry bag real tight-don't try to fill bag real full-better control. When making the pearl dot...Hold your bag straight up-don't slant the bag. With a firm squeeze, you just work faster-rather than slower. By doing that, you'll get the rhythm of the size thing. As you stop squeezing once the size is there..make a quick circle with the tip-like making a small zero, then release your tip. Let the dots set a minute or two, then dipping your finger in a little cornstarch-gently tap the top of the pearl to smooth it & remove any points you left when you released. Definitely use the pearl dust too.

This is a picture of the cake I am going to try to copy. I think I will definitely use the Royal Icing, make them and then put of the cake. How long do they need to dry and can they dry too much. I will decorate Friday - the wedding is Saturday.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Thelma

I have made cakes in the past and I used white edible pearls. If you can't find them at the bakery, try the wholesale bakery company. Sometimes they can special order them for you - or at least for your favorite baker. I always liked putting this edible irridescent flakes on top of my cakes but no one carried it. So I called the wholesale bakery supply and they said they would order it for a baker but not an individual. You may have to ask someone you know with a bakery to order it for you. Good luck.

I don't know where you live, Thelma, or what the budget for the cake is, but I thought I'd pass this ebay page along as this gal seems to have quite a selection of edible pearls - you could email her and see if she could get them to you in a very quick fashion...
Suzan J

Here is a link that might be useful: edible pearls...

Why didn't I think of Ebay and Why 0 Why didn't I post two weeks ago. I went on line and did a search for edible pearls and found a shop within 100 miles of where I live. I have already ordered them. They will ship before 9:00 tomorrow morning, so I should have them by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. I will decorate Friday so hopefully they will be here in time and be what I can use. They were pricier than I wanted but ordered them anyway.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I will post a picture next week. I am also doing the groom's cake with an Auburn University theme and also a railroad since the groom works for the rail road.

Thelma

Hopefully they will arrive in time for you - and I'm sorry, I should have looked it up when I first read your post last week but didn't think of it either.
I'm sure the cake will be marvelous, lots of pictures for us to oggle I hope.
Suzan J

There are some good cake decorating tips in this month's Country Living. Look's like some of the info is on their website:

http://www.countryliving.com/cooking/about-food/cake-decorating-0508

HTH, good luck.