i have a photo of it on the website but nt sure whether it could be improved, does anyone have any advise or comments?

The design was transferred well, so it is easily identified. Good for a first timer.

It looks like your icing was too thin or too soft. With practice, your cake will have a smooth surface to support the transfer.

You did a nice job on a first try!
Below are some steps and tips I have sent to others about how to make a FBCT.


I used an article from this site to teach me how to make transfers.
Here is the link that I used.
http://www.cakecentral.com/art.....nsfer.html

Picture:
Find a pictue on the web or a coloring book picture. If you use the web you can right click and copy then paste it into a Word document and make it bigger or smaller.

Frosting:
I use Wilton's recipe for white and dark chocolate. I use the chocolate for black that way you only have to add a small amount of black coloring to get a nice dark black.
http://www.wilton.com/recipes/.....bcream.cfm
http://www.wilton.com/recipes/.....butter.cfm (I use dutch processed coco to get a nice dark chocolate. Yum!)

Making the transfer:
Tape the picture and plastic wrap down on a flat surface(cutting board or cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer). Using Black frosting medium consistancy and a #1 tip, trace over all the black lines. Then place in the freezer to set up. I find that I can then shift lines around with my finger or a toothpick if I need to. Next using thin consistancy frosting (thin with corn syrup) fill in the colors. I do not use a tip for this. I use plastic throw away bags. I cut off the very tip and pinch the end so that the tip is not flat. Once all is filled in I tap it on a flat surface to help get any air bubbles out then freeze again until hard.

Finishing the transfer:
Finally I cover the back of the transfer with the same color of frosting that the cake will be covered. If the picture has holes in it, like between arms and legs you might want to fill in the holes with thinner frosting first to help keep fill-in lines from showing. I pipe frosting on the back to cover then smooth it out. Then apply another piece of plastic wrap to the back and freeze until hard. Some people like to make their transfers a little thinner but I tend to make mine a little thicker.

Applying the transfer:
Once the cake has its base frosting. Remove the transfer from the freezer and remove wrap from back. Keep the transfer flat and flip onto cake. You need to apply the transfer soon after removing from the freezer because they start to soften quickly. Transfers can break but I just place the two parts back together and as they warm up they "melt" back together again. You can also pipe shell boarder about the edge of FBCT.

Also, if you use a crusting buttercream frosting you can use a Viva towel (once it has crusted) to smooth out the fosting and get a smooth surface to apply your transfer onto.

HTH!