I have the hardest time trying to write messages on a cake. I tried using tips 2,3 , thinning out the BC, i even tried wiltons writing press where you can press it on the cake and trace over it but nothing has work. My cakes come out great but I cringe with i have to write something simple like happy birthday. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Do you thin it with corn syrup or piping gel? That helps. My handwriting is not the best either. I always print my messages.

I still get a little sqeamish when I have to write, but I found that a tip 4 or 5 works better for me and my style of writing. Play around until you find something you like....then practice, practice, practice....don't forget to eat the evidence!!!

It took a lot of practice for me to get comfortable writing a message on a cake. I like to do cursive. It helps me if I move my whole arm along with my hand all in one quick motion. If I hesitate then it tends to get messed up. Have you tried putting piping gel in your icing? Practice, Practice, Practice.

How is your regular handwriting? If you are comfortable writing neatly with a pen, you should be able to do it on cake with a little practice. I think my main tip would be to not be so afraid of it. Especially with cursive, if the icing is nice and soft, just go along and write with a steady firm pressure and don't go too slow. I find people either are afraid to squeeze too hard or afraid to go too fast, and then you end up with breaks in the icing or wiggly lines.

Practice!! Practice!! I don't like using round tips to write. I find I end up with squiggles instead. I like using the smaller star tip (see my "FMC" cake in photos) I forgot what tip # it is and can't look b/c the garbage disposal enjoyed it last time I cleaned it (It took a minute to figure out what that crushed up piece of metal was in the disposal) Anyway, I use star tip and thinned icing. I'm not that good at writing either, but I find I don't stress about it as much anymore.

I use a laser leveler ($10 from Walmart) to keep the lines straight.

Don't move your hand, move your whole arm when doing the writing.

Practice on the counter or a cutting board before doing it on the cake.

I never double over the letters either, (like on the h's, or t's) I do each letter seperately instead of trying to write the whole word. (hope that makes sense)

and Practice!!

i was thinning it out with a little water, i thought that was how to thin it out for some reason. my normal hand written is good but trying to do it on a cake is hard and if i mess up (look at my retirement cake, the writing was horrible) i can't really fix it. is there a way to do it like pushing the icing on wax paper and xfering to the cake?

My handwriting is great, but when it comes to using the piping bag and icing...it looks like chicken scratch. Someone on the forums told me to use royal icing, and pipe my letters on waxed paper so I could trace letters that were already printed. This worked for me because I could "fix" the letters before the royal icing hardened. When they were hard, I peeled them off and put them on my cake. Don't know if you're up for trying that. I know it seems like a waste to make all that royal icing for just a few letters, but maybe you could make a bunch of letters to save for future cakes.

Here is a link on how to transfer letters to your cake. I haven't tried it but I looks like it would be a great thing to try.

http://cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2184-Royal-Icing-Letters.html

I can totally relate to how you feel, I would get sick when it came time to write on a cake, I have the worlds worst hand writing to begin with add a pastry bag and I'd freak. I solved this problem about 15 years ago by discovering Chocolate transfers. You can use almost any font that you can write or print from your computer (reversed). You dont have to make a large batch of anything and you can paint them with luster dust. The possibilities are endless and stress free! All my writing is done this way. I have some cakes posted on this site and on my website.

kayscake, I love the writing on your cakes, I have got to learn how to do that!

Oh I am now a HUGE fan of the royal icing letters! It is totally worth it to make up even just a little batch of it to do your lettering! I started with the letter press (the letters are just too big for me, too spaced out and too generic for my taste) Then I went to the pin prick method of printing out a nice font, poking holes through the paper and pressing onto crusted buttercream. That worked pretty good, but still I kind of dented the buttercream up with my fingers/paper. Now I think the royal letters are the way to go by far. Check my photos and you will see the vast improvement over the course of the earlier cakes to recent!

I have lots of problems when trying to write messages on cakes. I found that, even though I do all the things they tell me to do with the icing, I still have problems.

Through practice I realized that I am not giving consistent pressure to the piping bag when writing. I tried a smaller bag, and found it worked much better for me. I have also learned to squeeze the bag with my left hand while guiding it with my right hand (I'm right-handed). It comes out more like my own hand-writing.

Theresa

practice practice practice....just practice. you will get better at it. try not to fill up your bag too much. try holding it like you hold a pen. maybe that will work. take your time...dont rush either.

Kay, your letters look great!! Stupid question...how do you reverse the letters? Do you flip them in a program like paint shop pro or similar?

I know I do..... by the way I love your "name" pilesoflaundry.... it reminds me of here!

Yep exactly!