Frozen buttercream transfer is a method of transferring your art to your frosted cake. You are making a buttercream “plaque” to apply to your cake. It is similar to the more familiar method of transferring a design to a frosted cake with gel on waxed paper, and filling in the design with a star tip. It is also comparable to run-in (flood-work) sugar design work, and it will make a beautiful reproduction of your art in buttercream on small as well as very large cakes.1
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1. Choose a graphic image and print it out in reverse/mirror image. (Click here for a good place to search for coloring book images)2. Tape your picture down to a solid surface such as a cutting board. 3. Tape a piece of wax paper over your image |
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4. Using your choice of outline color* Trace the outlines of the picture. *Outlining note: I use store brand (VON’S) fudge icing or Wilton’s Black. These are thicker and seem to not smudge as badly as homemade buttercream. The fudge seems to work better. I have found that name brand fudge icing is too creamy. The Wilton’s black will try to lift off of the wax paper. This must be used with care. |
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5. After completing outline. Begin coloring in. Think about your layers. For instance, in the sample picture, the white collar/cuff fur would cover the red jacket and bear fur. So I do this first. 6. Continue with your other colors thinking about layers as you go. |
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7. When you have finished coloring in your graphic, smooth the back while gently pushing without blending your colors underneath. This will settle your frosting into the grooves and create a smooth finished project. | |||||||
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8. Anything you have on the edges will show on your cake. Using the same color icing you will ice your cake with, edge the transfer and cover the back evenly. | |||||||
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9.Place in freezer on cutting board for at least 90 minutes. I have left it in for as much as 24 hours.10. Remove from freezer. Turn over onto iced cake. | |||||||
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11. Gently press transfer into icing.12. Carefully remove waxed paper | ![]() |
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13. Enhance transfer and finish icing cake, as you desire | ![]() |
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1 Source Amercian Cake Decorating Magazine Jan/Feb 1996
By: Dawn Griffin
14 Responses
klat7292
September 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting an article with visuals….can’t wait to try it out!!!
Artese
September 17th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
WOW! I never heard of this method before. I love it. Thanks for sharing.
neecerator
September 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Very nice work, and thanks also for the visuals, as I am a visual learner.
Words just don’t do it for me. tee hee
amarieholley
September 21st, 2009 at 3:29 am
I used this method but put the waxed paper over plexy glass first, that way you can lift the glass and look at the image underneath to make sure you don’t have an air bubbles in your icing. This works well because you can check your work periodically as you go. You can get plexy glass cut at Lowes or your local hardware store.
SweetsSpot
September 25th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thank you all for such great tips. I have been searching for this “FBCT”…drove me crazy trying to figure out what that stood for…lol…I am new to the site & I am already learning a lot!!!! Thanks again!!!
sweetkake
October 8th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Thank you so much for the very concise instructions. Never thought I’d be interested in this technique. It’s very useful.
missjessifer
October 14th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Thank you so much for this information. I’ve been wondering how to do this for a while, but never really took the time to look it up, I’m just a mom who wants to make my own cakes for my kids birthdays, I’m going to try this for my son’s Wall-E cake for next week…hope I can get it right!
CakeJediChic
October 16th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this technique! Thanks so much for the tutorial!
Tiara13
October 21st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I’m going to try this next week, but I’m worried about what to use for outlining. There is a store here that carries the Wilton brand, but I was wondering what “Wilton’s black” specifically referred to – is it just their regular black tube icing? I’m doing a Red Wings logo – should I use a Wilton’s red icing and my own normal buttercream for the white? I’m sorry if this sounds like a silly question – I’ve never done a buttercream transfer before, and I don’t want to mess it up! Thanks
duddy66
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Would there be any concern about how far in advance to freeze, I’ve read not more than 90 minutes or it might crack. What about when thawing is there concern of the colors running?
lucycoo
October 25th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Very helpful thank you ever so much for sharing your knowledge.
duddy66
November 1st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I used this for the first time on my halloween cake and it turned out great. I was worried about the colors running but if you follow the directions that are given it turns out beautiful. Thanks.
tigerhawk83
November 8th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
The suggestion to use store brand canned frosting for the outline REALLY helped me – I used Aldi’s chocolate frosting and without that, I don’t think it would have peeled off the paper properly. That frosting stayed harder than the buttercream just long enough to get the transfer moved. Thanks so much for the extra tip!!
LovinMyLilFam
November 14th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
This is very helpful…I do have a question: Does this work only on animated pictures or can you do a photo of a family member too?
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