Frozen Buttercream Transfer Tutorial

Frozen Buttercream Transfer Tutorial

There are a lot of frozen buttercream transfer tutorials on the internet.  Google it and you will find several on blogs and on youtube.  So, why am I adding my own to the mix?  Well, why not?  In this tutorial, I will show why I like using FBCTs and address some of the issues I have had using them.

A frozen buttercream transfer is a relatively simple technique that allows for a picture and/or logo to be placed on a cake.  I enjoy using them because I am terrible at drawing and this technique allows me to "draw" a picture on cake.  Just takes a little patience and care.

I used the FBCT technique on these cakes in order to get the school logo and/or mascot.

Supplies Needed

You will need:

•  a flat surface on which to tape your pattern to that you can also pipe on and transport to and from the freezer.  It can be a cookie sheet, cake cardboard, glass, etc.  I like to use a piece of acrylic that I purchased at a hardware superstore.  

• something to pipe on.  This can either be wax paper, parchment paper or acetate.  I prefer to use clear acetate because it is easier to view the pattern underneath, but I have also used wax paper.

• a piping bag filled with a medium to medium-stiff icing that you want to use as an outline color (most of the times this will be black).  NOTE:  You can do FBCT without an outline but is is easier to have an outline. 

• piping bags filled with a medium to thin icing to fill in.  These will be all the colors you use for your pattern.

• various sizes of round (writing) tips.  The size depends on the level of detail you are trying to achieve and the area (size) that you have to cover.

• art brush or toothpick to move icing into corners and missed spots.

Preparing Your Work Surface

Take your pattern (a coloring book page, image found on the web, party invitation, etc.) and prepare a mirror image.  If your image is on the web, you can easily flip the image.  If your pattern is a coloring book page or invitation, you can use a copier to reverse the image or you can trace your pattern onto parchment paper then flip it over.  If you don't start out with a mirror image, your FBCT will turn out flipped horizontally from your original.  This may not be a big deal except if you have writing on your image.  The more detailed and the more colors that are in your picture, the harder it will be to pipe cleanly.  In this example, I took a permanent marker and went over the outlines to help them stand out even more.

Once you are happy with your pattern, tape it to your flat work surface.  If you are using a cookie sheet, tap the pattern on top of it.  If you are using a clear surface like glass or plexiglass, you can tape it to the underside.  Next, tape your wax paper, parchment or acetate to the top of the pattern. NOTE:  Before you start piping, make sure your flat work surface will fit in the freezer.

Piping the Outline

If you want to tint your own icing black (or whatever outline color of your choosing), feel free to do so.  However, if I am using black I generally will use a pre-made black icing because it is very difficult to get a true black icing on your own.  In the picture above, you can see where I used a tube of black icing- this is more like royal icing and not buttercream.  I cut the "seam" end of the tube off, scoop it out and put it in a bowl, and thin it to the consistency that I want. Once the out line is done, I put the transfer in the freezer to harden the outline.

Piping the Inside

Couple of things to keep in mind as you pipe the rest of the design.  

It's generally easier to pipe from the middle out so you minimize the risk of dragging your hand in what you have already piped.

You must keep in mind that this image will be "flipped" so you are looking at the backside while you are piping.  This requires that you pipe any details that are "in front" first.  This includes any highlights (like this image had highlights in the sunglasses that I needed to pipe before filling in the black part of the glasses).

You will use smaller tips for little details and filling in tight spots and bigger tips for filling in large areas.  Remember that stiff icing will be very difficult to pipe through a small tip.  It may be tempting to pipe lines back and forth to cover the spaces but the image will look better if you can keep the tip inserted in the icing as you pipe and use a little circular motion.  When you use very small tips (1 or 0), you may get bits of icing sugar stuck in the opening.  This is why I like to use couplers with small tips.  I can easily screw the coupler off, unclog the tip and put it back together.

Once you have piped one color or area and before you start on the next color, place your transfer in the freezer for a few minutes to let icing firm up.  This makes it so much easier to get clean lines without the colors inadvertently mixing.

From time to time, check your piping from the front side to see if you missed any spots.  There will usually be tiny areas that the icing did not get into.  Take a small paintbrush or toothpick and gently coax icing into those spots.  

When you are satisfied with how your design looks, put it in the freezer to harden.  Remember, you are looking at the "back".  This side will be against the cake.  

Once it is hard enough where you won't mess it up, pipe a layer of icing on the back (the same color as the icing on your cake) and smooth it over with a small spatula.  This adds stability.  Try to get this icing as smooth and even as possible.

 If there are high and low spots, your transfer will have dips (and may even break) at the low spots as the icing thaws once it is on your cake.  BUT, be aware that the thicker your transfer is, the higher it is going to stand up off your cake.  Personally, I like to use a small, tapered spatula to smooth out the back.  Place it back in the freezer one last time.  At this point, I usually take off all the tape that had been holding my pattern in place.  I want to get it on the cake as soon as possible after it comes out of the freezer and I don't want to be fumbling around with the tape.

Placing it on the cake

After your transfer has sufficiently hardened, it is time to place it on your cake.  The amount of time it stays in the freezer is completely up to you.  I have left them in there as little as 30 minutes or as long as overnight.  However, once you take it out, it will start to thaw immediately so you need to work quickly.  Have your cake already iced and have pre-determined where the FBCT will be placed.  Take a quick look at your FBCT to make sure you have it oriented in the right direction.  Place it flat on your cake and gently press.  Peel off your wax paper or acetate to reveal your masterpiece.  If your FBCT is wanting to stick, put the whole thing (cake and all) back in the freezer to firm back up.  If you notice a lot of "lines" in the surface, wait until it has thawed, finished condensating and crusted a bit before placing a Viva paper towel or piece of parchment paper on it and gently rubbing out those lines.  You may wish to leave your FBCT like it is or place a border around it.

Here is the finished cake:

FBCT without border

FBCT with border

More examples of FBCT:

Simple Buttercream Borders

Simple Buttercream Borders

Ever since I started decorating cakes, I have had this love affair with borders.  I know that sounds strange, but I love looking at buttercream borders on cakes.  To me, the border can really make a plain cake look special.

Since I don't do video, I want to share a couple of youtube channels where you can watch some very talented buttercream decorators.  The first one is Liz Larson.  Liz was a grocery cake decorator and shares a wealth of information on how to quickly pipe buttercream cakes.  The other channel is Roland Winbeckler.  Roland is a legend in the cake decorating world.  He definitely does things old-school. He has a few buttercream tutorials on his channel that are well worth watching.

Shell Borders

One of the simplest and most common buttercream border is the shell border (or some variation).  This border is done by holding your piping bag at about a 45 degree angle and letting your icing build up a bit before you ease the pressure and pull away. 

 Here is the shell border shown with a #18 tip and a #21 tip:

Shell border with #32 tip:

Shell border with #199 tip:

And with a #5 writing tip:

You see that the piping and pressure control are the same, but you get completely different looks depending on what tip is used.

Variations on the Shell Border

There are several things that can be added to a shell border to "jazz it up" a bit.

You can add a dot of a different color in between each shell

or you can add a star:

You can do what I refer to as the "over-under" which is a line piped with a writing tube that goes over a shell, then under the next one, then over, then under, etc.  Then, go back to the first shell and reverse the order so that they criss cross:

This works really well when you have 3 main colors that you can carry through to the border:

One way to embellish a bottom shell border is to pipe simple arches above them and on the cake board.  Here, I show a #199 shell border with arches piped with #18:

Once you are ready to move beyond the simple straight shell, try a reverse shell.  Start by piping a shell where the "puff" is curved to the right:

Then pipe the next one with the puff in the opposite direction:

Repeat:

A variation of this is the double reverse shell.  This is done by piping 2 puffs in one direction, then reversing:

To take this one step further, pipe another shell on top of the double so it looks like a triple shell:

Other types of Buttercream Borders

The rope border is well suited for a basketweave cake, a western or cowboy themed cake, nautical cake or masculine cake.  I used a #32 to pipe this rope border.  Start with a loose backward "S" shape:

Then, place the tip under the curve of the "S" and pipe over the tail of the 1st one:

Repeat:

Two very simple borders are the Zig-Zag and Puff borders.  The zig-zag border on the top was piped with a #18 tip by keeping steady pressure and moving the bag back and forth along the top edge.  The botton Puff border is piped with a #32.  You make the zig-zag motion but start with easy pressure then build to heavy pressure in the middle and back to easy pressure to ease away.

The leaf tip #70 makes a very pretty ribbon like border.  I made this border by using a shell-type motion but without building up a "puff".

The e-motion border is made pretty much how it sounds.  Take a star-tip (in this case #14) and keep steady pressure while you pipe in a motion like a cursive "e".

You can add to this with a row of dots above and below the e-motion border:

Simple scroll design for sides:

This is one of the simplest scroll designs that I know of.  Start by piping a wavy line.  Make sure the waves are not too close together.

Then, pipe a backward "c" in each curve:

Then, go back over the "c" and use heavier pressure on the start of the "c":

Then, go back and pipe extra embellishments to fancy it up:

Examples:

Bottom Leaf ribbon border with dots - Top shell border:

Top Rope border - bottom shell border:

Top Over-Under border:

Bottom Puff border

Top border Reverse Shell:

Nintendo Groom's Cake

Nintendo Groom's Cake

If you remember Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Galaga and Donkey Kong, you probably played on one of these old-school Nintendos.  The bride ordered this Nintendo NES cake for her groom as a surprise.  She supplied me with a photo of Pink Cake Box’s version of this cake and I used it as well as a few other pictures I found online as a guide.

Preparation

When you are making a replica of something like this in cake, it helps if you can find drawings with dimensions to assist in getting the scale right. 

I took note of the size of the items on the control panel and then scaled that to the controller I was making so it would look more realistic.  I found it much easier to work in centimeters and millimeters than inches.

Carving the Cake

I decided to make the Chocolate Kaluha cakes in a 10 x 10 cake pan.  I cut about 2 inches off one side to give it a more realistic shape.  I wrapped the cakes in several layers of plastic wrap and put it in the freezer.  A cold cake is much easier

to carve. Using paper and cardstock, I made a template of the sloped bottom portion and used it to carve the cake, which I had filled with chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream that had been flavored with kaluhua. I iced the entire cake in chocolate ganache and let it sit overnight to firm up.

It was easier to carve it upside down...

then flip it right side up.

Once the ganache had sufficiently hardened, I covered the top with a light grey fondant.  The Nintendo console is light grey on the top and top portion of the sides but dark grey on the bottom portion of the sides. The template that was used to carve the cake with was also used to cut a panel of fondant for the bottom portion.  

Using the pictures as a guide, I added some details.  The controllers were made in advance from rice cereal treats covered in fondant. I painted on a glaze of corn syrup mixed with vodka to give them a shiny look.

 I don’t often get the chance to make cakes like this and was pleased with how it turned out. 

The wedding cake was designed from a picture provided by the bride.  The colors (pale yellow, orange and grey) matched the color scheme of the reception hall décor.  The reception was held at 211 Main Hall & in Como, MS. 

I wish Mark and Kathryn many years of happy memories.  

(Photo by Mariposa Photography by Emily Tillman)