Help needed on cake finishing

[leonorsousabast]

Hi! I'm always amazed by that "smooth velvet" finishing on some cakes of Oriol Balaguer (you can see some examples on oriolbalaguer.com then look for "cakes and pastries" and under this section look for "EMPORDA", "SIMBIOSIS" or "FRAGIL"). but I don't know the process to do it. I just know that they use some kind of airbrush...
Can anyone tell me more of the "secrets" involved in this? What kind of airbrush do they use? Which kind of powder do they spray?

Thanks in advance!

[chefpeon]

The spray is cocoa butter and/or chocolate thinned down with cocoa butter so that it can be pumped through a power sprayer or perhaps even some airbrushes. I personally use a Wagner Power Sprayer that is designated ONLY for food use. To get the velvet finish, the item MUST be frozen....that way the cocoa butter/chocolate sets up on contact with the dessert and gives the velvet look.

[leonorsousabast]

Thank you for your kind answer!
I've just seen your website and I'm amazed by your beautiful cakes...

(I'll try the power sprayer soon...)

[leonorsousabast]

Today I went shopping for a power sprayer... I've looked at the Wagner... which is the most suitable model? What should I look for?

thanks!

[chefpeon]

Any Wagner will do. You can buy the cheap basic model, or in my case I bought the model that came with two canisters (a small and a a larger one) and it also had adjustable spray patterns. I'm not sure if all Wagners do or not. Personally, I haven't really found much use for the adjustable spray patterns, because the patterns are large and they ALL make a mess. It's always handy to have a three sided spray "booth" around what you're spraying so it doesn't get everywhere.