A paint-by-number cake?
August 19, 2011 1:25 PM Subscribe
My mom used to make these great birthday cakes using neat shaped pans and then simple icing rosettes for the color patterns.
I remember a rocking horse. She tells me she rented a pan (probably a Wilton pan) and maybe used a book from the library for the icing design? In the age of all these fancy fondant cakes (wtf moms?!), I want to make a cake like that for my daughter's birthday.
Let's assume I can find a cake pan easily enough - maybe, a butterfly, for example. I need a template or example picture to work from for the icing. Like a 'paint-by-number' for cakes. Making it up as I go for the icing design is NOT going to work for me. I CANNOT draw/paint/sculpt. I have searched the web and can only seem to find either fondant designs or really complicated-looking stuff (for me, that would be pretty much anything) drawn with the icing. Where are the designs/templates I'm looking for?
A lifetime of birthday cake making lies ahead, so any resources you can point me to will be much appreciated. Yes, I've seen this thread. The responses were kind of dismal so I'm trying again. I'm sure the Cake Bible is a great book, but the 'here's how you pipe wibblety-bobbles with the icing - now have fun!' method isn't going to work for me. Thanks!
I remember a rocking horse. She tells me she rented a pan (probably a Wilton pan) and maybe used a book from the library for the icing design? In the age of all these fancy fondant cakes (wtf moms?!), I want to make a cake like that for my daughter's birthday.
Let's assume I can find a cake pan easily enough - maybe, a butterfly, for example. I need a template or example picture to work from for the icing. Like a 'paint-by-number' for cakes. Making it up as I go for the icing design is NOT going to work for me. I CANNOT draw/paint/sculpt. I have searched the web and can only seem to find either fondant designs or really complicated-looking stuff (for me, that would be pretty much anything) drawn with the icing. Where are the designs/templates I'm looking for?
A lifetime of birthday cake making lies ahead, so any resources you can point me to will be much appreciated. Yes, I've seen this thread. The responses were kind of dismal so I'm trying again. I'm sure the Cake Bible is a great book, but the 'here's how you pipe wibblety-bobbles with the icing - now have fun!' method isn't going to work for me. Thanks!
Just coming in to say the same thing that Sophie1 said. I used to do those kind of cakes after taking a Wilton Cake Decorating class -- they're really easy to do! You can buy everything you need at Michaels and other craft stores and they will usually offer a Wilton class as well. If you think you might be doing this a lot, it might be worth it to take the course -- it's fun and easy. Recently I've seen some of the shaped cake pans at Goodwill, so if you'd rather not buy new, that might be a place you could look.
posted by la petite marie at 1:32 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by la petite marie at 1:32 PM on August 19, 2011
I was going to reply to this by opening with "yay! I love cake!" but I see that I apparently did that in the other thread you linked to because I am a GIGANTIC DORK who LOVES CAKE.
I'm pretty sure what you're looking for here is called a frosting transfer. Here is a video of one of the Wilton ladies demonstrating the technique. I've never done it myself, but it seems pretty straightforward. Any big box craft store (JoAnn, especially, since they partner with Wilton) will have the supplies that you need. They'll probably also have someone on staff who can give you a few pointers, if that's what you're looking for.
If you notice in the video, Ms. Wilton lady drew the template picture herself. You could easily find an image online that you like, print it out, and use it in the same way that she uses her turtle drawing.
Happy caking! :)
posted by phunniemee at 1:33 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure what you're looking for here is called a frosting transfer. Here is a video of one of the Wilton ladies demonstrating the technique. I've never done it myself, but it seems pretty straightforward. Any big box craft store (JoAnn, especially, since they partner with Wilton) will have the supplies that you need. They'll probably also have someone on staff who can give you a few pointers, if that's what you're looking for.
If you notice in the video, Ms. Wilton lady drew the template picture herself. You could easily find an image online that you like, print it out, and use it in the same way that she uses her turtle drawing.
Happy caking! :)
posted by phunniemee at 1:33 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
I see you're in Canada, so if you have Bulk Barn out where you are, they have the pans in all kinds of different molds and I'm pretty sure you can rent them there.
posted by pised at 1:38 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by pised at 1:38 PM on August 19, 2011
Most of the pans come with instructions for how to decorate that specific pan, so you might not need anything more. I'd also check youtube for instructions once you have a pan.
posted by jeather at 1:39 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by jeather at 1:39 PM on August 19, 2011
Response by poster: Yay! I see exactly the technique and style she used on the Wilton site. Brings back memories (sniff!). And yes, I have both Michaels and Bulk Barn for supplies. Thanks guys!
posted by kitcat at 1:54 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by kitcat at 1:54 PM on August 19, 2011
My mom used to make birthday cakes the same way!
Bulk Barn here in Edmonton definitely rents out pans. Looked into it for my little guy's first birthday but ended up borrowing a "1" pan from a friend instead.
posted by sanitycheck at 2:09 PM on August 19, 2011
Bulk Barn here in Edmonton definitely rents out pans. Looked into it for my little guy's first birthday but ended up borrowing a "1" pan from a friend instead.
posted by sanitycheck at 2:09 PM on August 19, 2011
My mom used to make cakes like that all the time. I've done the icing blob decorations a couple of times myself and it really isn't that hard - and I can't draw either. If you've got a flat slab then you have to worry about putting the rosettes in the right places but on a shaped pan things are simple because the shape of the cake itself lets you know where to put your colour (eg on a cookie monster cake the eyes will bulge up, so you know to use the white icing, and the pupil may further bulge, on a christmas tree the ornaments would be sticking out, etc).
Michaels is a good place to get pans/accessories because they almost always have 50% off coupons which you can use. Don't buy from Michaels unless you have one of these coupons!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:22 PM on August 19, 2011
Michaels is a good place to get pans/accessories because they almost always have 50% off coupons which you can use. Don't buy from Michaels unless you have one of these coupons!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:22 PM on August 19, 2011
Michaels also sometimes has cake decorating classes at the store. Check it out.
posted by mermayd at 4:11 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by mermayd at 4:11 PM on August 19, 2011
If there is a Michael's or similar shop near you, you might be able to get free or cheap lessons.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 6:54 PM on August 19, 2011
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 6:54 PM on August 19, 2011
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posted by Sophie1 at 1:29 PM on August 19, 2011