Flower Cake: How To Transfer Simple Designs

Sometimes I get really frustrated with having baking for a hobby.   Not because the occasional recipe tastes mysteriously wrong or because some projects can leave me 8+ hours in the kitchen straight.  Nope.  Well..okay, maybe a little.  But the real frustrating reason is the fact that baking can get a bit costly.  There's been quite a few cakes that I would have loved to make in the last month or so, but simply couldn't due to lack of funds.

So why am I pulling the "Boo-hoo, pity me because I'm poor" card right now?  Well, it has to do with this cake:

I made this back in August last year.  I was still really new to cake baking/decorating at the time. ( Heh, I'd still say I'm new actually.)  According to another blog I had at the time, this cake began like this:

"So I was laying around on my computer with Cake Boss playing on the TV in the background. (I kinda sorta hate the Cake Boss. He drives me insane.) And I got the urge to do some baking. I usually just do a boxed cake mix, but since I didn't have one yesterday, I looked up a super simple recipe."

 

Well, to cut the story short ....

I didn't even have enough ingredients to follow the "super simple recipe" exactly, meaning this cake ended up tasting super weird.  So I won't be sharing how to bake this anytime soon.

But the taste wasn't the point of this cake.  I just wanted to create something pretty that day, but I was poor with limited resources. 

So! If you want to take a shot at creating a cake like this, the fondant and cake recipes are all up to you and your imagination.  But if you want to know how to get the flower (or whatever suits you) onto the cake without risking the error of free-handing, then I can help you there.

1. Draw or print out a basic design.  I've found image googling what you want along with "coloring page") will get you some really nice basic outlines.
2. Cover image with wax paper and trace the outline with a marker.
3. Place the image face up on the surface of the cake.
4. Use the handle end of a paintbrush and slowly press down on the outline, leaving an indent in the shape of the design.
5. Remove the wax paper and pipe, paint, or use edible markers to color over the indents.  And then you're done!
• This technique is also good for creating a starting point for further free-handing or more detailed designs.

 

For this particular cake, I used edible markers.  I'm a huge fan of these, although I have a hard time working with them on more damp surfaces.  I find them most useful for minor detailing (like eyes) on fondant pieces.  I really suggest getting a set of these, as they really come in handy sometimes.  The Cake Whiz used them for her fantastic set of heart-shape cookies in her newest entry. You should really go check those out here.

Well, Rachie Cakes finally has another cake entry again.  It was starting to get a little cookie-entry overdosed.  :P  

Anyway, toodles for now everyone. :)

<3 Rachel