HELP PLEASE **How to make fondant shiny - is it safe to use egg white brushed over the top?

[FiaGrace]

That's it really. I covered a cake in fondant but I had no idea how to make it shiny. I used egg white as it's simply a practice cake and no one is going to be eating it.

Out of interest, would it be safe to eat though (in terms of the egg) and if not, what do you use instead?

TIA

Vodka.

Oh really? Wow - I didn't know that. Thank you

It evaporates off and stays shiny.

I steam it. I use the iron. Just do it from quite far away in case it drips.

Thank you. I had wondered about steaming but was worried Id over do it and it'd end up too wet.

no no no no no!!! You need to polish it with your hands! Once you've covered the cake, with clean, dry hands lightly rub the sugar paste all over as if you were polishing it. It will soon become smooth and shiny, at which point stop polishing!

Mable thank you but how do I make the small(er) decorations shiny as well as the main body of the cake using the polishing method?

never felt the need to do that myself, but you could always polish the paste before cutting it out, or very gently polish it with a finger.

I wouldn't risk touching my flowers or butterfly's once they are on a cake! I'm clumsy they would definitely break.

I've gota tiny brush that I sometimes use for little details.

I'm going to ask a really simple question... Why do people want it look shiny?

Thank you all.

I wasn't going to make it shiny but it looked really 'dull' and I felt it needed something extra.

I've never seen a really shiny cake. I steam mine if I've had to use more cornflour than normal (black and red icing is a bitch to roll)

Sometimes a quick brush with a barely damp brush is sometimes enough.

Was wondering myself why it needed to be shiny too.

I agree withmable - I just polish the icing with my hand when it's on the cake. It goes beautifully shiny.

Lustre spray

Steaming works. Lustre spray works. Polishing works for the cake but not the decorations.

If you want it really shiny then use edible glaze or glaze spray. I wouldn't do it for a 'normal' cake, but I've used it on a playstation cake (it might be on my profile) and on an apple on a twilight cake to give a more realistic effect.

Try confectioners glaze, its makes things Lovely and shiny, Just used it on a drum kit I'm making.

Yes, I was going to suggest a lustre spray too.

Use trex. It's fab. You can use it instead of icing sugar when rolling out icing and it prevents the icing from drying out and cracking.

GoodnessIsThatTheTime asked why anyone would want a cake to be shiny? I want my Pumpkin Cake to look slightly shiny because I believe that pumpkin skins are naturally slightly shiny... Same would apply to a lot of novelty cakes.