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How to Transfer Any Design onto a Cake
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Sep 6, 2024
In this cake decorating tutorial I'll show you how to transfer any design onto a cake using simple tools and a fun technique! For my online cake decorating school click here: https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/online-courses To read a written version of this tutorial (with photos!) click here: http://www.britishgirlbakes.com/how-to-transfer-any-design-onto-a-cake/ SUBSCRIBE to my channel for new cake decorating tutorials every week! I use this extra-tall acetate roll for cake decorating: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NYQQ83T?ref=exp_britishgirlbakes_dp_vv_d If you buy any of the products I've linked out to, the price you pay won't change but I will make a small commission on anything you buy. Thank you for helping to keep the British Girl Bakes tutorials FREE!
View Video Transcript
0:00
I'm going to show you how to transfer any design onto a cake. Pretty notebook covers, wrapping paper
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a pattern scarf, you'll need the design you choose, and a piece of acetate, some piping bags with
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any piping tips you have handy, and a cake with a crumb coat. Wrap the acetate around your
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cake and add a few inches to leave room for frosting. Pinch the acetate and cut it there
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so you've got a piece of acetate wide enough to go all the way around your cake, plus a few
0:25
inches, and at least as tall as your cake too. If you can find acetate on a roll, that's
0:29
easiest and I'll show you why later. Put the cake in the fridge until you're ready to transfer
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the design onto it. Place the acetate down on the counter so that it curves upwards and then
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tape it down onto the design you've chosen, facing that same way. Now use your piping bags to pipe
0:44
frosting onto the acetate, tracing the design underneath. You can use whatever colors you like
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instead of matching the original design exactly. This side that you can see is going to be pressed
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against the side of the cake, so it doesn't matter that it's messy, but it is a good idea to
0:59
spread it with an offset spatula for two reasons. Firstly, to push the frosting down so
1:04
that it's pressed against the acetate to prevent air pockets. And secondly, because
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you want the frosting on the acetate to be the same thickness all over, so that it lies
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flat against the cake later. So as you spread each section, you can scrape off any
1:18
excess frosting to make it level with the rest of the design. Since you're spreading the
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frosting, it doesn't really matter which piping tips you use, although you'll be able to
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pipe more intricate detailed designs if you use small round tips to pipe with. If you
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don't have any piping tips you can spread the frosting straight onto the acetate instead of piping it but your shapes will be much less precise than if you pipe them
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I should mention that I'm using my four minute buttercream for this. I haven't
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tried it with whipped cream or meringue butter creams but I suspect that they don't set firmly enough for this technique to be possible. If you try it tell me in the
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comments how it worked for you. After creating the whole design except for the background
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color save the leftover frosting for later and put the acetate in the fridge or
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freezer so that the frosting sets it will only take about five minutes in the freezer when you take it out peel the tape off the corners and the weight of the frosting will keep the acetate flat now Pipe or spread your background color onto the design spreading it with your offset
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spatula to push it down against the acetate in between the parts of the design you've
2:18
already piped. Those parts are now cold and hard, so they won't be damaged as you spread
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on this final color. Spread this color up to the edges of the acetate to cover it completely
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and also spread all over the top of those hard parts, because now that they're set, they won't
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be sticky anymore and you need that fresh sticky frosting to attach the design to your cake
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Take your crumb coated cake out of the fridge and it will be cold and firm and sturdy enough
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to withstand the pressure you're about to apply to it. Lift up the acetate and lower the bottom down so that it rests on the cakeboard to make
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sure the design goes all the way down to the bottom of the cake and then raise the rest
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of the acetate until it's pressed against the side of the cake
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Let the acetate wrap around the cake and this is why using acetate from a roll is ideal
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because it will curve naturally to wrap the cake with hardly any help from you
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Once you've lined the acetate up against the cake, use your hands to press it against the cake, rubbing up and down the sides
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to attach the entire design to the cake. Press firmly enough so that the sticky frosting attaches to the crumb coat of the cake
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but don't press so hard that you squeeze and distort the frosting design
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The end of the acetate will overlap the beginning and that's fine. Make sure the beginning is pressed flat against the cake
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and press the end over the top of it and we'll sort that out later. When the acetate is smooth and pressed securely against the cake all the way around
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put the cake in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the frosting to set so that you'll be able to remove the acetate
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For the next step you'll need a sharp knife, a frosting smoother, an offset spatula and the frosting left over from piping
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When the frosting is cold and hard from the fridge, pinch a corner of the acetate and peel it off
3:55
If you're enjoying this tutorial, please click the thumbs up button to like it and subscribe to my channel for a new cake decorating tutorial every day
4:02
week. You'll see the residue of each color on the acetate, but the frosting itself
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shouldn't peel off with the acetate. It should stay behind, attached to the cake, in a smooth
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layer This is what the acetate should look like The design has left an impression but the frosting has transferred onto the cake It not left behind on the acetate At the join of the two ends of the acetate use a sharp knife to cut off the excess frosting sticking out and then carefully peel off the
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last section of the acetate. We'll tidy up this seam here in a minute. You can see that my
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frosting goes up higher than the cake, because the acetate was a bit taller than my cake
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and you can trim off the excess with a sharp knife. It should slice away easily if it's still cold
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from the fridge. Mine has started to warm up and soften, and if you feel your knife sticking
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to the frosting instead of gliding through it, you can put the cake back in the fridge to
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chill it again before you do this. Now spread frosting onto the top of the cake to cover up the
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crumb coat, making sure the frosting goes all the way over the edges of the cake so that there
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aren't any gaps later. Spin the cake around a few times as you press down with your offset
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spatula to smooth the top of the cake. Fill in any gaps around the top of the sides of the cake
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where any pieces of frosting broke off when you peeled off the acetate or trimmed the top edge
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Then use a frosting smoother to scrape around the cake, paying attention to the top
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to take off any excess frosting that you just spread on. The frosting design you transferred from the acetate will be cold and hard so you won't
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damage it as you do this. Now that the top of the cake is tidy it's time to hide the seam
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where the two ends of acetate met after wrapping around the cake
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Use your frosting smoother to scrape upwards, taking off the excess frosting to leave the sides of the cake smooth. For the part of the seam
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close to the top of the cake, it's best to scrape downwards instead of upwards because the frosting at the top of the cake is the most delicate. So by
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going in this direction, you won't snap off any of the frosting with the pressure you're applying. When the seam is smooth and it disappears into the design so you
6:00
don't notice it was ever there, it's time to do any touch-ups in the design. You'll
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notice lots of little air pockets around the design. Type or spread frosting over
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them and if you pipe it, use an offset spaselor to spread it, pressing against the cake to push
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the frosting down into the air pocket. Then use your frosting smoother to scrape over that
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section to take off the excess frosting and reveal the design underneath This only works because the frosting of the design has set and it cold and firm So when you spread frosting over it it sits on top of the design instead of blending together with it So you can scrape over it to take off layers and layers of that fresh frosting without damaging the design underneath
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The reason there are air pockets is when you piped the design onto the acetate at the beginning
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even if you spread that piped buttercream, there will still be areas where the buttercream doesn't push all the way down onto the acetate
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and that's where the air pocket forms. Do your touch-ups one colour at a time so that you don't blend the colours of this fresh frosting together
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If you do feel the frosting of the design softening and your frosting smoother starts to leave texture behind as you scrape
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put the cake back in the fridge to chill it again for a few minutes, maybe 15 minutes, and then you can
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continue spreading and scraping. If there are any air pockets in the design close to the top of the cake
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when you spread on more frosting and scrape it off, you'll push some of that frosting up above the top edge of the cake
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so you'll need to tidy up the top edge again with an offset spatula or a frosting smoother
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pulling it from the outer edge towards the middle of the cake to pull any excess frosting with it
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You can do as many touch-ups as you like as long as the frosting design is cold and firm
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You can do more touch-ups on top of the cake too, making sure the frosting there is smooth too
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Wipe any smudges off the cake board with a paper towel wrapped around your finger
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and you can leave the cake as it is, or you can add a border around the bottom as a nice finishing touch
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I'm piping this one with a number four round tip. You can add a lot more detail to cakes decorated
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with this acetate technique, like adding shading by spreading on darker or lighter shades of
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frosting and smoothing them against the design with your offset spatula or your frosting smoother
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Other options are to add edible glitters or luster dusts for some shimmer or sparkle
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or sprinkles add some nice detail and texture too. This technique has so many possibilities and I can't
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wait to see how you use it. Please tag British Girl Bakes in your photos on Instagram so I can see what you come up with. If you're looking for cake inspiration
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join my club for access to all of my online classes, including lots of different designs you
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can create using acetate, such as marble or zigzags. Click the link in the top of the screen
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or in the video description to find out more
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