Cake Decorating With Edible Flowers

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The vibrant designs on this cake were created using edible icing sheets, a very effective and easy decorative technique. Edible Icing Sheets are printed designs that can be applied to cakes, cookies, cupcakes and other desserts. The sheets are an actual layer of icing that bonds with buttercream, ganache, royal icing and fondant. You can purchase the sheets pre-printed or customised with your own design or photo.

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Here is what I used:

Edible icing sheets (I provided the printer with the designs)

Gum paste glue (made with gum paste and a little boiling water)

Small paintbrush

Small sharp scissors

Paper punches

Paper Guillotine or exacto knife and ruler

A cake iced with fondant

A gum paste tea cup and saucer

Other gum paste decorations to finish

Where I purchased the icing sheets:

Since I live in Singapore, I had my designs printed by CuppyCakes.

If you're in the U.S., Ticings is a great store selling beautiful pre-printed designs. They also offer a custom service.

Creating the designs

I searched Etsy for 'Floral' and 'Chevron Digital Paper' and came across a shop called Digital Potpourri selling exactly what I had in mind. Once I received the designs via email, I then laid them out (repeated the design) to fill A4 paper size (this is the size of the sheets my printer uses). I used Photoshop to put my design together, but you could use any graphics program or even Word. I combined some designs on the one page to save on printing costs. It's important to have a fair idea about your cake design before ordering the prints. You need to make sure you have enough to cover the circumference of your cake. Also, make sure your designs (such as the roses) are sized correctly for your project. It's a good idea to print out your design on paper at home to see what it looks like, before you send it off to have printed on icing sheets. Icing sheets have a shelf life of approximately one year.

This was the design in the shop.

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This is what they look like printed on the icing sheets.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 1:

Start with a cake, smoothly iced with fondant.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 2:

Using a sharp pair of small scissors, cut the design out. It's easier if you firstly peel away the plastic backing and then cut.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 3:

To cut straight edges, it's best to use a guillotine or exacto knife and ruler. Scissors will also do the job.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 4:

Apply a thin layer of glue to the entire back of the icing sheet. This step is not required if your cake is iced with soft icing such as buttercream, which is adequately adhesive.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 5:

Apply the icing sheet to the fondant, using your fingers to gently press the sheets in place.

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Applying the icing sheets on a cake, Step 6:

For continuity make sure you cut the pattern in a way that it all matches up, as shown below.

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Applying a bunting pattern, Step 1:

Make a template for the curved shape of the bunting. I used the lid of a container, sliced in half. I simply pressed the edge into the fondant.

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Applying a bunting pattern, Step 2:

Triangles can be neatly cut out using a paper punch. Alternatively use scissors or an exacto knife.

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Applying a bunting pattern, Step 3:

As shown above, apply glue to the back of the icing sheets (triangles) and glue into place.

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Applying the roses:

Simply cut out the rose shape and apply on the surface with glue as above. Use your fingers to press and hold into place.

This tea cup was made using gum paste and painted with gold luster dust mixed with a little alcohol (tutorial to come later).

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Applying to cupcake toppers:

Cut icing sheets using a scallop or round punch. Apply cut outs to fondant cupcake topper in the same way as shown above. You may choose to apply the designs directly to the cupcakes (without a topper), however, make sure the surface is flat like here.

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