I am making a Harley Davidson cake for my dad's birthday this Friday. I've been reading about a FBCT but I'm a little confused as to what to do. I'm more of a hands on learner and I can't find any videos about this. So I have a few questions...

1. When I print out the Harley Davidson logo should it be in color or black and white?
2. When I do the outline and that there is a lot of black in it..should I get the Wilton black gel that comes in like a tube? Or use black buttercream?
3. What kind of consistency should the buttercream be?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, how I stressed out about my first FBCT. It was very simple, and turned out okay. Then I jsut did my second one last week. It is on my Elvis cake in my gallery. For the black outline, I just used the wilton black icing in a tube, but it isn't gel. I tried using the gel for the woman's clothing, and it stuck to the wax paper really bad. I would recommend just tinting a small amount of thinned buttercream with the colors you need. If the bc is thinned, it makes it much easier to spread on the back of the FBCT. Try to get the back smooth. My first one had alot of "peaks" on the back, so when it froze hard, it didn't sit quite right on the cake. Let it sit in the freezer for a couple of hours to ensure that it is hard. Immediatly take it out, flip it onto your cake. As you smooth it onto your cake with the wax paper still on the FBCT, let the warmth of your fingers loosen up the wax paper, and then peel it off. Good Luck!

You're Elvis cake is really cute! I will get the icing in a tube. Just the outlines need to be black? Since there is a lot of black in the logo can I use what is in the tube to "color" it in? I'm sorry but I still don't understand one thing..you said that thinned BC would be better to put on the back of the FBCT...what exactly is the back? I just get so confused easily..sorry.

I just did my first one for my grad cakes in my pics. What you do is you print out the image you want as a mirror image so its in reverse. Tape it on your cake board then tape wax paper over it. You use buttercream and what I did was filled in the larger areas first, stuck it in the freezer, then the part that had small outlines I filled in with my bag and small tip, then stuck it back in the freezer, then spread white over the back of the whole thing, and popped it back in the freezer. Very easy. I would print it out in color, just easier that way.

There is a tutorial on this site about how to do a FBCT. It is very helpful. When you do a FBCT, you are doing it upside down, so that after it is frozen, you flip it over on your cake. So, you would start out with the outline first. Then, you add the background color. When I did Elvis, I outlined the entire image first, by taping the drawing to the counter, then the wax paper over that, and I jsut traced it. Then I filled in his hair, glasses, and her shoes. Then I filled in the white for his clothing. Then i filled in the skin tone areas, then her clothing. That way, \\after it is frozen, you flip it over, and the image is correct. I'm not very good at explaining things, I'm so much better with hands on teaching! That tutorial shows you step by step in pictures.

I made a motorcycle fbt if you look at my pics....I printed the pic I wanted out and then taped it to a board and taped wax paper over top of the pic....then I filled in just like coloring in a coloring book...stay inside the lines....then place in the freezer.....make sure the buttercream gets into all the parts....I placed it on a white buttercream top od cake so I didnt bother putting white across the thing like they say and it was fine...there is a pictoral on cc I think

Thank you for your help. Your grad cake looks awesome btw! I think I understand now. So after I do the outline and the coloring I put it in the freezer then put white icing on top of the color to make a "back" to it? The cake itself is going to be white then the logo on top with an orange and black border. Then the cake is going to be in a car ride for two hours. If I take the cake out of the freezer before I leave it should be ok right?

keep air conditioner on high....good luck....

the first buttercream frozen transfer I tried is the pennstate lion in my pics also....you will do fine

Yes I definitely plan on keeping the air on high when I drive there. I will try doing the FBCT tomorrow so I have plenty of time to fix if. I will keep you guys updated. Thank you so much for all your advice!!

here this should help ...its what I used to learn

http://cakecentral.com/article12-How_To_Create_a_Frozen_Buttercream_Transfer.html

Thanks I will use that.