Edible icing sheets are an often overlooked tool of the cake decorating trade, with most decorators associating them with just photo cakes. But they are a super versatile decorating tool that allows you to apply virtually any pattern or graphic to a cake with minimum effort. With vintage floral patterns in huge demand at the moment, edible icing sheets are an excellent way to create that vintage cake design in no time. They are also a great tool to have at your disposal if you have a customer requesting a complicated hand-painted design, that is simply beyond your artistic skills.
The Cake Journal have a wonderful tutorial on decorating with edible icing sheets/transfer sheets (not to be confused with chocolate transfer sheets which are a different product completely. An edible icing sheet is simply a super thin rectangle of icing with a design imprinted thereon, with a plastic backing from you which you can peel it off.)
The superb vintage blue cake above left is by Couture Cupcakes (Australia) with a design by Hello Love Designs. Its pretty counterpart on the right is decorated with a design by In The Treehouse.
The cake from the Cake Journal tutorial is featured below left and on the right we have a super chic collection of vintage cupcakes from The Creative Cake Academy, who have designed a beautiful range of icing sheets available to purchase from The Cake Decorating Company.
Edible icing sheets are fantastic for decorating cookies also, particularly in vintage prints such as featured in the beautiful examples below by Dainty Delights Inc (left) and from Sweetness Cakes & Confectionery (right).
Two more pretty vintage cakes perfect for any elegant celebration and can easily be re-created with any vintage pattern printed on to an edible icing sheet. (Cakes by All Ways Cakes, left and Minnie’s Sweet Creations, right).
Edible icing sheets come in very handy when you need to create a complex design like sheet music or calligraphy on a cake. The two beautiful cakes below are from Gateaux Inc via Half Baked (left) and via WedLuxe (right).
Hand-painted cakes such a the vintage masterpiece below by Cotton & Crumbs are a huge design trend at the moment. However, if painting beautiful rose patterns on fondant is a bit beyond your skills you can easily create a very similar effect for your cake using an edible icing sheet printed with the pattern of choice, wrapped around your cake.
If you’d like to learn more about painting on cakes, you’ll find useful tutorials in our feature: Hand-Painted Cakes.
Readers might also be interested in our features on:
- More on Decorating with Edible Icing Sheets
- Decorating with 2D Floral Cut-Outs
- Stamped Cake Tutorial with Floral Appliques with Erin Gardner
- Toile Cake Designs
- Peony Wedding Cakes & Occasion Cakes
- Vintage Floral Piped Cake Tutorial
For more on vintage style cake decorating, see our features on: Vintage Hatbox Cakes, Vintage Jewellery & Locket Cakes, Vintage Accessories Cakes – Gloves, Parasols & Fans, Vintage Cameo Cakes, Bunting Cakes, Teapot Cakes, Teacup Cake Toppers, Vintage Birdcage Cakes, and Carousel Cakes.
Coming Up Next: Writing in Icing – Piped Lettering Tips and Techniques
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