i first saw this tecnique being used on a 2 tiered pink and white "gingham patterned" Fondant Covered wedding cake in the jan/feb issue of the British wedding mag. "wedding and Home" the name of the bakerey wasn't spicified
(when i find the picture i'll be sure to post it)

my first conclusion was the cake was hand painted. but there was no way for the pattern to be that precise all around the cake.

so, i figured, it had to be applied using some sort of "KOPY KAKE" method, where the scanned image (in this case, ginham fabric) is first copied onto an "icing sheet" using edible inks. and then applied to already rolled out portion of fondant (large enough to cover the cake entirely)
and then the fondant would be applied to the cake using the cover and smooth method.

DOES THIS SOUND CRAZY ENOUGH?

i later ran across www.justfab.com
a pastry shop in (my hometown of San Diego) which specializes in wedding cakes, cookies and petite fours done in what i think is the same process.
*WARNING: try not to be alarmed by some of their prices ($25 for a cookie!)

am i on the righ track or out in left field somewhere with this?

Yep, I think you've figured out their secret!

I looked at a lot of their cookies, petit fours, etc. and many seem to have edible image transfers on them (hawaiian shirt cookies, Burberry petit fours, etc.). I noticed that those items are also more expensive than some of the completely hand-done things--reflecting, I think, the sheer expense of the materials involved in edible images.

My unsolicited opinion is that although there is a place for the "perfect copy", the use of personal talent and ingenuity is much more interesting. I'd be pretty peeved to order "Hawaiian Shirt" cookies at $5/ea. only to find edible transfers on them with a few white royal icing lines used to define the collar, buttons, & pocket.....but I'd be delighted if I'd paid that amount and found lovely, individual handpainted patterns, pieced fondant,
or piped buttercream on those cookies. Just my .02

thanks...

i totally agree...

i'd rather pay top dollar for something more original ( something i know would be difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate)

perhaps i just needed to know "i waaas riiiight!"

Isn't that crazy? I wish I knew some suckers who'd pay $25 a cookie! I'd paint all day and night!

I totally agree as well. I think hand decorated cookies are much more lovely and appreciated (even with all the minor variances between each cookie) than simply a sheet of "printed icing" on a cookie. I'm sure they don't taste as nice, either. They must have to put alot of preservatives and chemicals in the product to be able to accomplish the image copy successfully.

Tastycakes,
when you find some let me know as well!!

Daniela

Hi!

I think I actually saw that same pic (or something very similar) only in a modern bride magazine around May of this year.

So, you're from San Diego? My sister is here with me and she wants to know if you know where Steve Perry lives (I feel stupid for asking)? She a big Steve Perry/Journey nut.

Wandootie

Man, whatever will be thought of next to replace good ole handmade, TLC cookies and cakes??? We have a place here that makes cookie bouqets but they taste awful-people buy them and don't eat the cookies-keep them because they look nice. Maybe that's the way it is supposed to be but if I'm going to buy something edible-it's going to get eaten!! But for everything out there for sale there is a buyer!