Hi All!

I have signed myself up for stenciling a cake for the first time and I just wanted some input. How hard is it to stencil the side of a round cake frosting with buttercream? Do I use royal icing or a different color buttercream?

Any advice would be awesome!

You can use either one. I suggest that you "ice" a cake pan with buttercream (just the sides) and let it crust and then practice, practice, practice. You could also ice some foam core and use that to practice on so that you get a feel for how much pressure to use to hold the stencil in place and to adjust your technique.

Hope that helps!

Do you find that the royal icing is easier to use? I am sort of leaning toward using buttercream, only because I don't want the royal to harden and be crusty.

Yes, I prefer using buttercream to stencil with for cakes.

You can use either one, but make sure your buttercream is pretty much a good crusting buttercream , and not to soft, because it will get behind the stencil, when you are going around the sides of the cake. Also I try to start in the middle of the stencil and then go out from there, side to side, that way the stencil gets a good hold on the cake and holds it in place. Stenciling is alot easier of course on fondant , then buttercream. I have stenciled alot over the years with buttercream and on the sides of cakes. Take your time and be patience. Good luck.

I tried stenciling a round dummy cake for a bridal fair... What a fiasco! Then I did a square wedding cake. Black buttercream on white buttercream cake...was a breeze to do.

I would suggest having an extra pair of hands when doing a round cake. I will definately make sure DH or a good neighbor is around to help me whenever I end up stenciling a round cake for anyone. HTH

Hey, I just wanted to give everyone and update. I did my stenciling today. I found it to be very easy. This is my new favorite thing!

I have a question about stenciling on a round cake. How do you line it all up..in other words, when you move the stencil how do you avoid smearing the parts you have already done?

Well, I didn't want to use the whole stencil, so I covered part of it with paper and tape and was working with a smaller field as it were. But really the stencil wants to stay flat, not curved so it sort of keeps itself out of the way. I started in the middle of the stencil and then worked out to the sides. I never had a smear issue at all.

oh, okay...Thanks