You can buy some of the small sizes (3 MM to 6 MM) of pearls (yes they are hard - like small jaw breakers). Also available are the soft fondant pearls in smaller quantities in (4MM to 9MM) several sizes.  We now keep these sizes in stock so there will be no delay in getting them to you. You will be notified if a size is out of stock and will take more time. Other sizes can be ordered by special requests. But if you have the time and want to make your own here is a way you can make them.

These are time consuming and very boring to make - a multitude of the same thing over and over. But boy are they showy on a cake. Otherwise a no brainer type of thing.

*****NOW available here- new Stainless Steel larger pastry tip sets for making the larger pearls

3/30/04 Revised instructions for making the pearls.

I have been making these pearls for several years now and I keep trying to find faster ways to make them. These instructions get updated as new ideas are shared with you. So if you have a new idea on how to do these faster please share it with me.

Items needed
6, 8, 10 and 12 Wilton Tips
804, 805, 806, 807, 808 and 809 Ateco Pastry Tips (You can order them here)
Fondant Icing and Concentrated Oil flavoring such as you would use in hard candy
Saran Wrap
Damp Paper Towels
Pasta Machine or 2 long skewers and a rolling pen
Shallow plate and thin sponge or a piece of egg crate foam rubber

Knead 2 drops of the oil flavoring into approximately one half pound of fondant.

Roll out a small portion of the fondant to the thickest setting on the Pasta Machine. Or use a rolling pen and roll between two skewers as shown in the photo above. This will give almost the same thickness to the fondant.

The important thing is to find a way to roll the fondant out to the same thickness every time.

Using the tips for cutters, cut numerous disks allowing them to accumulate inside the tips as shown

Let the top of the fondant dry slightly and dust with cornstarch in a knee-hi stocking before cutting then they won't stick together.

Make a saran wrap paper towel covering. (Pull off a long piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on the table. Tear off a couple of paper towels and fold that length in 1/3rds and dampen. Flatten out the folded 1/3 paper towel and lay in in the center of the plastic wrap. Totally enclose the damp paper towel with the plastic wrap and seal as much as possible as shown above. ) Place the cut pieces into a small zip lock bag until you have the desired number you want. Keep the damp saran wrap/paper towel over the zip lock bag to assist in keeping them moist until you have them all rolled into balls. They will keep for days.

When you have accumulated numerous disks in the zip lock bag under the damp paper towel/saran wrap, remove a few of them and separate as shown on the left. Wad each little disk up and make it into a small ball. Drop them gently onto a light sponge placed on a shallow plate or dish. Allow to dry on the sponge/plate for approximately 4 - 24 hours and then place them in a container with a small amount of dry pearl dust and shake them up.

These new inexpensive containers are great for keeping these pearls. After making numerous pearls I counted them and then marked the bowls to know how many were in each container. Small pearls in small containers and large pearls in larger containers. Now they are marked so that you will know approximately how many pearls you have in reserve.

This divided box is great to work from when doing the cakes with multiple sizes of pearls to be used.

Leave them out to air dry (out of the containers) for several days. If you have high humidity in your area you may need to leave them out as much as a week.

Hints - After they surface dry (a few hours here with our low humidity) they are ready to coat with pearl dust, put them into a container and add a small amount of pearl dust and shake them up to coat them to look like the pearls. I have learned that the earlier I shake them in the pearl dust the more shine they will have. The drier they become the less pearl dust they will absorb. Leave out to dry for another day or two before putting them into containers.

When they are surface dry where they will no longer change shape when you handle them, put them into a container - only then do you move them into containers. If you move them while they are still soft you will have a mess when you open them up to use them..

Larger sizes pearls can be made by using additional larger size tip bases used as cutters. Of course other shaped cutters can be used also.

We carry the 3MM to 6 MM hard pearls on the shopping cart for you.

You can order the soft pearls on the same page. They are all hand made and therefore much more expensive. You can order those here. Very close appearance to the real pearls. Click on the small photo of the pearls on the shopping cart for an enlarged view.

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