I really thought I made it thinner on the cake I am working on right now but it is still too thick. It always looks and inch taller than the cake and then I fill in the sides and end up with a mountain. Any tips on how to make it thinner w/o breaking it. I use them all the time but hate the "mountain effect" I end up with

If you freeze the FBCT between layers (do the outline ... freeze. Add a layer of color .... freeze. etc.) what I have done is take a sharp knife and cut off some of the back. I do this toward the end of the project and you have to be careful, obviously, when you do it.

When I did my Maxine cake (in pics), I didnt' want a big thick "medallion" thing either. I used a thinner icing, froze between applications, and sliced the thick back off when I could. I also avoided putting the white backing on it. I worried about that ..... wondered how it would hold together .... but it kept it much thinner, and it held up great.

Thanks for the tips indydebi , how do you thin the icing for the FBCT? Water? I wanted to try to leave the big thick backing off but was afraid to try, now I will. That is what makes mine huge. I didn't freeze between layers either I'll have to try that. Sometimes I don't even outline, is that bad?

I always have this problem, too! I'm afraid to leave the backing off as well. I'll give that a try next time! Thanks for posting this thread!

I use milk in my BC, so yes, I just add a little extra milk to thin it down.

What is FBCY???

cserwa, here is the link to doing a FBCT. This is the articles that drew me into CC at the very beginning. (I was searching cake stuff at work ... shhhhh! ..... and came across this.)

http://www.cakecentral.com/article12-How-To-Create-a-Frozen-Buttercream-Transfer.html

Thank you for the awesome link! That helps tremendously!!

ok like a dork i shouldve read the forum before i ran with it....will i have any problems lifting a fbct off of parchment paper instead of wax paper??? please anyone out here help me i need to finish this cake by tomorrow...yikes

You shouldn't. I have made mine on both waxed paper and parchment paper without problems. However, just for personal preference, I now make my FBCTs on a piece of plexiglass, so I can peek up under them to see any missed spots or any squiggles and fix them. I also use a piece of washed acetate film (what teachers use on an overhead projector - that clear paper-sized film you can buy in stationery departments) on the plexiglass in place of waxed paper/parchment paper. I find the FBCT comes off very nicely and it's so nice to be able to see the "back" side while you are making it since that will be the side facing "up" on the cake when you flip it.

As for thickness, I don't do the "back layer of icing the same colour as the cake top" thing. So my finished FBCT is, at most, just under a 1/4" thick. I find I can stick that on the cake and get a nice "pop" effect from the picture.

Thank you, tracey1970, for posting! Those were exactly the tips that I needed to improve my FBCT!

***sighs from relief*** Thank you so much Tracey your a life saver....

***sighs from relief*** Thank you so much Tracey your a life saver....

So glad to help! I've got so much help on here myself, and I have messed up enough FBCTs to have learned the hard way!

Great info Tracey1970, thank you! Love your avatar! (a.k.a your baby!!)
There's a Weimeraner Rescue group fundraiser event going on in my community right now...."Weim and Cheese!!"