Help with transferring a pattern to a cake

[CurlySue]

I'm hoping some of you brilliant people have an idea that will work for me.

I have a bride that wants me to pipe the design from her dress onto the sides of her cake. Normally I just freehand this kind of thing but this design is somewhat complicated and would just be better if I could somehow transfer it onto the cake then pipe over my transfer.

So here's what I'm thinking. I can get a photo of the embroidery on her dress and make a black and white paper drawing of the outline that I need to pipe. My problem is getting this design onto the cake. I've tried all kinds of things in the past for transferring designs, some have worked better than others, none is dependable enough to work for this particular application.

I've thought the best way would be to emboss the design into a really thin piece of metal then wrap the metal around the cake and transfer the pattern into the icing. My problem is that I don't know what kind of metal to use, and where one might find something like it. I imagine something like really thick aluminum foil. Something sturdy enough to use a stylus on to emboss the pattern, but thin enough to bend around the cake, at least partially. Does anyone have any ideas what I might be able to use?

If you have a completely different idea on how I can transfer this design I'd be up for that too!

[PassionateChefsDie]

I might be missing something but cant you just prick the design (i.e emboss the base?) as your piping over the lines, just using what ever you used before i.e you mentioned B&W drawing? Do think I might be missing something though.

[ladyyoung98]

does the design on the cake need to be edible?....if so using a more pliable fondant might be better to use....it can be tinted if it needs to be and you can adhere it to the sides of a cake using buttercream frosting as your glue....you can either purchase premade fondant or you can ourchase the fondant powder and work from scratch....while i dont work with fondant very often this just seems to make more sense....you can use a stencil that you create to lightly draw the design onto the sides of the cake add your glue to the lightly drawn design and then carefulladd your fondant to the that.....however if somebody else has a much better suggestion im sure it will be posted and i too would be interested in seeing it

Edited May 12, 2005 by ladyyoung98 (log)

[chefette]

Sounds like a job for the infamous Sugarveil stuff

[JeanneCake]

If the embroidery is heavy enough, you could have her send you a piece of the fabric and use that to "emboss" the fondant. One of my instructors (Ursula, from Art of the Cake) used to do that before the advent of silicone molds. You press the fabric onto the fondant once it's on the cake and then go over it with royal icing.

The other method she taught was to trace the design on parchment paper, then pin it to the cake. Use a pin to mark the design onto the cake (you poke the pin through the lines, etc), remove the parchment and pipe over it. I found this method to be very time consuming. She also showed us how to use the scribe tool to trace the design onto freshly applied fondant and this worked much better for me.

But I agree, the Sugarveil stuff might be your best bet because you can pipe it on a flat surface and apply it to the cake when it's dry....

[aidensnd2]

Sounds like a job for the infamous Sugarveil stuff

←

Exactly what I was thinking. Perfect timing with the Sugarveil thread just happening.

Either that or I would just take a drawing on parchment and prick through it onto the cake to get the lines.

[chefpeon]

I agree! Let's put the Sugarveil to the real test! It also sounds like the easiest and quickest way to get the job done!

[CurlySue]

Thanks everyone. I've used the pin prick method in the past and it's just too much of a pain, not to mention it rarely gives a good, clear impression.

Also, the cake will be buttercream so any kind of fondant impression isn't possible. It would be easy to use something to emboss the design in fondant but unfortunately not so easy on buttercream, not even frozen buttercream because the paper sticks to the buttercream eventually.

I can't get a piece of the embroidery to copy because she's buying the dress off the rack at David's, so it's all pre-made.

The sugarveil stuff would probably work but honestly I don't want to spend the money on yet another cake toy that I'll probably never use again. Ugh. Why did I take this order?

[Wendy DeBord]

Actually I think you were on the right track in your opening post. Everything sort of depends upon just how difficult that pattern is. Is there a repeating pattern to the lace?

If so, you can make a small simplified stencil and press that into your cake. Similar to pressing in an object to space out your swags. I once did a scroll that kept giving me problems with it's angle by cutting and shaping the scroll in copper sheeting and that helped me keep the size the same and all I had to do was focus on the angle everytime I pressed it into my cake for an outline. For me (and hopefully you too) I found just that little bit of guidance (keeping my size and angle) enough to let me free hand as I normally would. You could make yourself a couple press stencils (stencils is the wrong word, I mean metal shaped scrolls you can press into the cake) to use, that would be easier then one elaborate one.

What to use........I found a roll of copper sheeting at the home improvement store that I use to cut my own cookie cutters from. You want to find the right gauge thickness so it's easy to bend but not too easy so it gets out of shape as you use it. Maybe seeing the copper I use might help, look here.

[CurlySue]

Wendy, thanks so much! I think that's exactly what I'm looking for. Some type of metal plyable enough to bend and shape and possibly even "etch". Gotta love Home Depot! I'll try to find something there. Thanks again.