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Cakes with a cute or recognizable character are really popular but it's difficult to replicate
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all of those tiny details onto a cake. Here's where buttercream transfers come in. The first
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step is to frost your cake. It's best to start here because the frosting needs to set before
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you transfer your design so after you frost the cake it needs to sit in the fridge for at least
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an hour while you prepare your design. Time for the fun part, the character! Print out an image
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making sure it will fit within the height of your cake and tape it onto a flat surface like a tray
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or cutting board, something you can move around easily later. Now put a piece of parchment paper
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on top or wax paper or baking paper, lining it up so that the bottom edge is at the bottom of
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the design which makes the transfer onto the cake the easiest. Mix all of the colours you need for
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your design and put them in piping bags or ziploc bags. You only need a tiny bit of each colour
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Cut a little piece off a corner of each ziploc bag or piping bags if that's what you're using
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or you can use a small round piping tip like a number two or a number three. Use one colour at
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a time starting with the smallest details. Squeeze the buttercream out to outline a section and then
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fill it in and you can use a toothpick to spread the piping around, pushing it downwards because
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you want the buttercream to be pressed flat against the parchment paper which is the side of the
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design that's going to be visible. The side you see here is going to be pressed against the cake
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so this texture on the buttercream is fine because you won't see it anyway. To pipe one colour right
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next to another colour you should chill the design first by putting the tray in the freezer for five
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minutes. That sets the first colours so when you pipe beside them the new colour won't distort the
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first colour. It's going to look messy as you're piping but don't worry because like I mentioned
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this side is going to be hidden and it's the other side that will be facing out. I like using
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ziploc bags for this because I don't have seven small round piping tips which is the number of
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colours I'm using for this design but I do have seven ziploc bags. Save the colours after you
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finish piping because you will need them later. Do all of the small sections first, leaving the
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biggest section until the very end. For me that's the green face and body of the dinosaur. When
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you've done everything else put the design back in the freezer for another five minutes to chill
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everything and then outline and fill the shape with the final colour and it's fine to pipe over
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the other colour details because they're cold so they'll hold their shape and remember no one will
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see this side of the design. Use an offset spatula to spread this final colour, pushing it down
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against the parchment to push out any air pockets and also by flattening and smoothing this side of
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the design you'll create a level surface which will attach best to the cake in a minute. As soon
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as you finish the design, peel the tape off and now it's time to transfer the design to the cake
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Take your cake out of the fridge and your frosting should be cold and firm. Lift your character up on
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the parchment paper and line it up against the cake. Ah look how cute this little dinosaur is
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Press it against the cake, pushing gently against the parchment paper all over the design to stick
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it to the frosted cake. Don't remove the parchment yet. Put the cake back in the fridge for an hour
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or in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the character on the cake and then peel the parchment
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off to reveal your character. We still need to do some touch-ups so don't be put off by the air
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pockets in the design. Use the leftover buttercream from piping your design to cover up any air
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pockets, doing one colour at a time and then scraping off the excess with an offset spatula to smooth it
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Since the character has been chilled it's okay if you pipe or spread this touch-up buttercream
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over the other colours of the design because you can scrape it off without damaging the rest of the
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design since it's cold and firm and will hold its shape. Tracing the character keeps everything in
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proportion and it's much easier than piping a design straight onto the side of a cake
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and it creates a perfectly flat design. Check out my online cake school for my free course on 10
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frosting techniques and lots of courses on hundreds of cake designs and techniques. Thank you for watching
