Dust It On

• Decorating dust doesn't combine well with water, oils and most food ingredients. Instead of mixing it into chocolate, which would cause the dust to lose most of its color and sheen and result in an uneven effect, paint on decorating dust when the chocolate dries. It's designed to go on as a powder, but a small paintbrush works well to apply it. The dust works best on hard surfaces, such as chocolate-dipped truffles. The decorating results on uneven or gooey surfaces tend to be less satisfactory.

Alcohol Mixture

• Decorating dust mixes better with alcohol than with water, allowing you to create designs that will dry on the surface of your chocolate creations in the desired colors or pearl effect. It works especially well applied to gum paste decorations to add to chocolate desserts. The dust works best when applied to desserts with a firm chocolate glaze or icing, like puff pastries, eclairs, chocolate croissants, petit fours and cookies. Once the icing or glaze has fully set, create your decorating mixture. Stir one part decorating dust into three parts vodka and apply the resulting paint with a paintbrush or toothpick. The vodka evaporates and won't affect the taste of the treats. Test the alcohol mixture on a sample or unobtrusive area. Although alcohol is quick-drying, it can cause smears on chocolate.

Cocoa Butter Paint

• For decorating chocolates and chocolate-dipped or -covered treats, cocoa butter works well for making sparkly paint with gold or other edible dusts. Other desserts to decorate include hardened chocolate shell ice cream toppings, lava cake with a shell, and chocolate shell pudding and custard toppings. Melt cocoa butter and stir in decorating dust until you achieve the desired color saturation or amount of shine, in the case of pearl decorating dust. Start with three parts cocoa butter to one part decorating dust. The right amounts will depend on the size of the surface you're decorating. You can paint on the cocoa butter to highlight brush strokes, or drizzle it on for stripes.

Decorating Tips

• The dessert's surface affects how good the decorating dust looks. Only try the paints on firm chocolate icings, not damp or sticky ones.The effect will be more successful on a chocolate glaze than on fudge frosting. Make more than one color of paint, if desired. If possible, work with the cocoa butter in cool conditions and put the dessert in the refrigerator, if possible, to set the decoration. Creating paint mixtures with alcohol or cocoa butter results in decorative effects that last longer. However, if you use the decorating dust dry on candies, package and handle them with care to avoid rubbing off the color. Only use decorating dust that's FDA-approved for food use.