I have a cake order on next saturday which I am going to attemp, for the first time, a FBCT. Does anyone have any hints? Anything helps. Its kind of intimidating! I'm not sure if I am going to outline it in black, because the picture I am using doesn't have black outlining, is this a bad idea??

here are some good instructions:

http://www.sdbytracy.com/frozbutter.htm

You can outline in the color of icing your cake will be frosted in and fill in from there.

They really are not as hard to do as they seem. If you can trace and color with a crayon you can do this. I thought it was fun (although nerve racking, because I was intimidated) my first time.

You can do it! Have fun!

The best tip I can give - make sure your buttercream is nice and soft!!!! Softer than you'd think, especially if you have to do small details and are using a really small tip. I almost killed myself using a #1 tip with buttercream that was a little too stiff!! There's an article here on CC that I used to learn how to do a FBCT. It is now my favorite way of decorating, simply because it's so easy. Don't be afraid to leave it in the freezer for a good long time. I've frozen one up to 4 days before. I use the buttercream dream recipe (you can find it here on CC). Once you put it on the cake, don't touch it! I have left fingerprints on my transfer before and it's really noticable especially on the dark colors.
Good luck!!!!

I did my first fbct last night and it was fun, but scary cause I was so nervious I was gonna mess it up. I am putting it on the cake today if i get up the nerve...lol
But like someone else said make sure your frosting is a little soft cause mine was a little thick and it was a little hard getting it out with a tip #3. My hand hurts.
Good luck and have fun with it.

I love, love, love to make FBCTs!!! Here are my tips I have given to others. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

I used an article from this site to teach me how to make the transfers.

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. Google image is a good place to look.

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.

Hope that this helps. Let me know how it goes for you.

Beth

I did my first one back in the spring and it was sooo much fun and much easier than I had anticipated. Don't let it intimidate you. Indeed, allow it to freeze as long as you need - so even a full day to two days ahead is not a bad idea. I know some say as little as an hour is sufficient. I even used the tubed/colored piping gel as part of my fill-in (warning that sets up but does not freeze so it is a little tricky to work with) and it still came out great. As well, I bought velium (sp?) in the craft store and printed my design from the computer. I used the tee shirt setting on the printer which is a reverse print. Then I sandwiched it under my work surface. I can't wait to try another one of these days!

I do these ALL THE TIME! one of the most important things to remember is, if you are going to use lettering, make sure you print your tracing in reverse image. I did this once, w/o reversing it, and the musical notes were all backwards.

Make sure that your finished transfer (before you put it on your cake) is frozen well. that way you can handle it a little easier.

Also about color outline. I don't think that using another color would make a difference. Go for it, and have fun! If you look in my gallery you will see several of the FBCT I have made. The Toy Story ones were my first.

ok, i have only done a couple of fbct. the last time i did it was so much easier because i sort of cheated. i used acetate paper, to pipe it on. and so i did not have to worry as much about the transfer, i cut a piece of fondant to fit the piece and placed it on the back after it was frozen.
then flipped it and transfered it. I know that it is cheating, but it worked.

Here it is in case you want to see it.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1247748

One last thing. I have made my transfers weeks ahead of time. That is why they are so great. Just make sure that you wrap your transfer well so that it is protected in the cold. And keep it away from the garlic bread or you will get garlic buttercream Yuck!!! You can work way ahead of time and flip your frozen transfer onto a very fresh cake. Or you can make one last minute. My Ohio State Football I made and let freeze for about 15 min. before I turned it over. It worked in such a short time because it was so small. HTH!

That you all so much for your help!! I'm actually excited now to try this! The cake is for a boy baby shower. Its a construction theme, so I'm doing dump trucks and construction tools in the FBCT. I'll let you all know how it goes!!

I tried a "test" FBCT last night, didnt work out the way i wanted it to! i was afraid that if i smoothed the back of it, the icing out mix in underneath, so i didnt.... and i ended up with lots of lines in it! how am i supposed to put a layer of white icing on the back of it, if im afraid that it will just mix all in underneath??? i might bail out on this fbct.... eek!

alicialee - the lots of little lines are from the way you "colored in" your areas. Keep the tip low on the paper and make everything kinda blend in together before you move your tip. also you can take a toothpick and smudge the icing around a bit to help remove lines.

I pop my fbct's into the freezer between every color so that they harden and I dont have to worry about smudging anything when I am adding more colors. I alos put it in the freezer to harden when I am done, before I put my white backing on.

DON'T GIVE UP!!!
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
REALLY!!!

I make these all the time too. I always make mine on either waxed paper or an acetate sheet (an overhead transparency for those of us who are teachers). I also use a piece of plexiglass instead of a cookie sheet or something else that you can't see through. The plexiglass is awesome because you can flip it over from time to time and see if you have squiggly lines. I tape my picture to the counter. Then, I tape waxed paper or the acetate sheet onto a piece of plexiglass and lay it over the picture. I start working, and every so often I pick up the plexiglass and look underneath it (this will be the "right" side that faces up on the cake). If I see any air bubbles or lines, I take a cakes-only paint brush and CAREFULLY work them out by coming in from the backside of the transfer (the side facing you when you are doing it) with the brush and gently pushing out the squiggle or bubble. When it's fixed, I just lay the plexiglass back over the pic (being careful to line it up properly) and continue drawing. These are great once you get the hang of it. I have a couple in my photos, but I have also made three more for this coming weekend alone that I haven't yet posted because they are not yet on the cakes. Have fun!