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My writing stinks! - Page 2

post #16 of 36
6/21/09 at 9:51am
If you can, get a book on calligraphy. This will show you some really great techniques for writing. The biggest hint is that there are only DOWN strokes. Even if you can only print, if it looks like calligraphy, no one cares and everyone things your writing is beautiful.

For large cakes, I use thread to make my "lines". Once the frosting has set enough I pull up the string and tap down the lower letters that might have been cut by the thread. It's very fast and easy.

Michele
Don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.
Galations 6:9, NLT

Author of "The Sugar Fix" cookbook and "Bloomin' Garden" DVD.
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Don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.
Galations 6:9, NLT

Author of "The Sugar Fix" cookbook and "Bloomin' Garden" DVD.
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post #17 of 36
6/21/09 at 10:38am
I do what Chreated does. I either write it with royal icing or with melted candy melts on a piece of parchment then let it dry and place it on the cake. I make a couple of each word so I can pick and choose which ones turn out the best. I have the wilton letter press set and I have found that if I use the tray that came with it I get a mess but if i carefully lay each letter in place then lightly press them into the icing I get better results.
Raising children is like being pecked to death by a chicken!
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Raising children is like being pecked to death by a chicken!
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post #18 of 36
6/21/09 at 2:27pm
Sugarflowers....

Would you please explain that writing technique in a little more detail. I would like to try that "thread thing" but I am not sure what I am supposed to do. A most interesting technique!!! I have to write Happy Birthday Michelle on a cake for this weekend and I already am getting a headache. I certainly can not write on the side of a cake to save my life. I almost destroyed a perfectly iced BC cake about 3 months ago. I still remember how upsetting it was!

Thanks.
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post #19 of 36
6/22/09 at 6:51am
Thread Starter 
BeeBoos...I have never made RI but I think I am going to give it a try and make a huge batch of letters and numbers at home. I could make a ton and then put them safely inside of a tupperware (will they melt, or will they stay hard once dried?) and then take them to work.

I could print script writing letters from the computer and trace them out in the RI and then have both script and print for all the different sayings I would need.

(Side note: I worked early Sunday morning, Father's Day, by the time I left I felt like writing "Happy Father's Day, choke on the cake" I had written it so many times and people were super fresh all day, not to mention I did not get enough sleep the night before; people were handing me the mini Carvel cakes and asking me to write Happy Father's Day on them, the mini is a 6in with a border, one lady says "you can fit it, just write really small" I felt like giving her the piping bag and telling her to give it a try, the old 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag situation) ok, done ranting lol!
sweet treats and love, erica
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sweet treats and love, erica
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post #20 of 36
6/24/09 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by misserica

BeeBoos...I have never made RI but I think I am going to give it a try and make a huge batch of letters and numbers at home. I could make a ton and then put them safely inside of a tupperware (will they melt, or will they stay hard once dried?) and then take them to work.



Ooooo... first of all, why would you want to work at home for free and bring all of your hard work to give away for free? I don't understand why your bakery just doesn't train you how to write on the cakes if that's something that is expected of you to do all day long!!!

Secondly... they probably CAN'T accept those letters that you're working so hard on to use at work if they weren't actually made at work.

I know of a chinese restaurant business that brings into the store a giant stockpot full of soup from the trunk of their car that they made at home in the morning. (I doubt that they are licensed at home since they are a licensed business, but it doesn't look like good business practice to the customers arriving at lunch time.) In this case, their home is probably cleaner because I know the pesticide technician that continually sprays the place--gross is a mild description... worst he's ever seen!!!

If you aren't licensed at home, don't be surprised if they tell you no. They need to have complete control over the products they sell in order to protect their customers from any mishaps, as I'm sure you would understand and agree.
HOW TO:
Make tip #127D (giant rose tip) Ruffle cake,
Write with icing,
Make buttercream roses on a stick:
http://s984.photobucket.com/albums/ae322/Unlimited1cakes/
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HOW TO:
Make tip #127D (giant rose tip) Ruffle cake,
Write with icing,
Make buttercream roses on a stick:
http://s984.photobucket.com/albums/ae322/Unlimited1cakes/
Reply
post #21 of 36
6/26/09 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
Unlimited, there is no one to train me. The person who hired me, and the only other person capable of decorating cakes, is out on disability until at least September.

And now that you mention it, you are probably right. They probably would not be able to let me use royal icing letters I brought from home. Although I will say this, no one said a word when I was using my piping gel (opened) because I ran out and the new person in charge does not know how or where to order it from. Seriously. (have not had piping gel in over a month)
sweet treats and love, erica
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sweet treats and love, erica
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post #22 of 36
6/26/09 at 2:54pm
It took me about a year to get my "cake writing" to where it's at and I've been decorating for 8 years!
And I find it sad that my handwriting on cakes is A LOT better then my handwriting on paper!
If I have a dime each time that happened...
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If I have a dime each time that happened...
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post #23 of 36
6/26/09 at 3:27pm
Quote:
Quote:

Unlimited, there is no one to train me. The person who hired me, and the only other person capable of decorating cakes, is out on disability until at least September.



Is there a culinary dept. at your local community college? Maybe your bakery will pay for a 1 hour private lesson with an instructor. I have no idea how much that would cost but it's an idea anyway.
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post #24 of 36
6/26/09 at 6:39pm
Thread Starter 
Kitcake, it is not something I even considered. Its a part time position in a grocery store bakery, I assumed that I did not have much to work with. It is certainly something I can look into though.
sweet treats and love, erica
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sweet treats and love, erica
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post #25 of 36
6/26/09 at 7:20pm
Oh Gosh, I have the same problem, I always look for other ways to write a greeting, like plaques placed on the cake. I write on the plaques and choose the best ones. I don't want to decorate a cake, and then have to mess it up with my chicken scratch! I have talked to other grocery bakers, and many of them say they have not received any formal training on decorating, just kind of had their own knowledge. Go figure!
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post #26 of 36
6/26/09 at 7:28pm
here's a question: When people are piping the writing do you use a medium sized piping bag or a very very small one that fits into your hand?
Design Addict
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Design Addict
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post #27 of 36
6/26/09 at 7:30pm
I write it with a blunt end of something--no icing. If I like how it looks I go over it with icing, if not--I erase it with a VIVA! icon_smile.gif
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22
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A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22
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post #28 of 36
6/26/09 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elise87

here's a question: When people are piping the writing do you use a medium sized piping bag or a very very small one that fits into your hand?



I use the same size bag that I use for everything else. The difference is when I actually write with it, I'll pinch off a bit towards the tip, give the bag a twist to "seal" that area off (then when I squeeze, the icing won't go backwards out the back, but through the tip. When I write, I only "pinch off" as much frosting that will fit in my hand. That way I have more control. If I'm making a rose or doing a border, then I'll pinch off more.

Am I making sense with that "pinch off" phrase?

EDIT: check out the tutorial link in my siggy. At the end of it, I show how to do my favorite border and you can kinda see towards the top of the screen what I mean by the "pinch off". I only work with an amount of frosting that I can comfortably hold in my hand, but I fill the bag with more so that I don't have to keep filling my bag every few minutes.
"Focus on what you share in common, learn from what makes you different, support each other through struggles, and celebrate each others' success."

Check out my buttercream rose tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGa5j46Z05c
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"Focus on what you share in common, learn from what makes you different, support each other through struggles, and celebrate each others' success."

Check out my buttercream rose tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGa5j46Z05c
Reply
post #29 of 36
6/26/09 at 7:48pm
"pinch off"= scoupe up?
Design Addict
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Design Addict
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post #30 of 36
6/26/09 at 9:38pm
Scoupe up?
"Focus on what you share in common, learn from what makes you different, support each other through struggles, and celebrate each others' success."

Check out my buttercream rose tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGa5j46Z05c
Reply
"Focus on what you share in common, learn from what makes you different, support each other through struggles, and celebrate each others' success."

Check out my buttercream rose tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGa5j46Z05c
Reply
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