My son has asked me to do a christmas cake for work. He is a csi and would like that to be reflected on the cake. Yikes, My thought is to model a hand sitting on the cake showing the fingerprints on each finger. Not sure how to accomplish this. I was thinking of modelling the hand out of marzipan but how would I get the fingerprint detail on each finger? Can you use transfer on marzipan? Any ideas would be appreciated. I need to do this cake this weekend and am desperate for ideas.

what a dream request...a design that's actually SUPPOSED to have fingerprints on it!!!

If you push your prints, lightly into the fingerpads, then take runny coloring, black, like when they do actual prints, and run that over the pad, the imprint will show up.
Oh, or or or make a fingerprint brush from fondant/ gumpaste or marzipan and use cocoa power as fingerprint dust and dust the pads that have been indented with your finger tips.

What about dusting the "fingertips" of your molded hand with luster dust after pressing in your own fingerprints?

I was thinking along those lines but was afraid I would have to press too hard to get the details of the fingerprint. Just realized I can't use marzipan because it is almond paste and my son is allergic to nuts. Great Mom to forget that little detail! So I will have to go with the fondant/gumpaste combo. I will give it a try and see what happens. My luck the guys will check for ridges and details in the print! Pretty sure I'm not wanted for anything ha ha. Thank you for your imput.

What about doing a yellow "chalk outline" and crime scene tape? I have a forensics t-shirt that says "When your day ends, mine begins". A little on the dark side but I imagine they have a good sense of humor.

Thanks to you all for your ideas. I have scrapped the hand with the fingerprints, tried and couldn't get it right. I decided to make some body parts sticking out of a pile of dirt (graham cracker crumbs ) then put crime scene tape sectioning it off. I am sure they will have a good sense of humour about it all. Might also put a transfer on somewhere of a fingerprint. Will post pics when I finish.

you might be able to put your finger prints on scotch tape, and then transfer the prints to fondant fingers. They pull prints from items with scotch tape so it might work to put the on something, or maybe you could make a tv type screen with two sites open, with a finger print on one side, and one on the other, and the word match below one print. You could draw the finger print, then print them on edible images, and place on you monitor.

I know this is more of a Dexter cake but maybe with a few alterations you could make it work and since it would be int he CSI environment when delivered perhaps it would be considered appropriate. Scattered around you could have plexiglass cut to resemble slides and pipe or draw with a sharpie squiqly lines in the shape of a finger print on each.

Seeing how it is a christmas party what about decorating the cake in a christmas theme but with a piece of cake cut out of it and the knife used to cut into it left behind, you could then have a brush and powder beside the cake as if someone is dusting the knife for prints, have some dusting powder on the knife handle showing some prints to see who the culprit was?? you could also have a fondant sheet of paper laying beside the cake with some of his coworkers names listed and their supposed finger prints. To make the prints on this and possibly even the knife handle you could prpbably apply a thin layer of black food coloring to your own fingers and apply the print that way, messy but may be effective

chalk outlines of snowmen? LOL

Mom of 4 boys the santa parts is a fabulous idea. Wish I had thought of that sooner. Not sure I have enough time left for them to dry, but I am going to try it.

Love CC everyone has such great ideas and are willing to share. Thank you so much!