I have a cake to make that will be iced in buttercream and she wants the daimond impression on it. However, I do not have the impression mat and our local store does not carry it. I need to make this cake tonight. Can anyone tell me how to do it without the impression mat? All help is appreciated!!! Thanks.

you can try using a ruler.

I used one of those triangular rulers you get in those kits (name escapes me at moment).

I stand it on the short flat side and follow the angle with either the dull edge of a knife or using a cutting wheel.

but first space out all around the bottom of the cake where each line will start from.

I used an inch to space them apart and it looked great.

Hope this helps

Before I had the impression mat, I would mark every 1" on both the top and the bottom of the cake, making sure they are even (directly above and below) each other. I then took the large spreader I have and made the lines with that (be sure you're crusted first) -- having the bottom of the spreader touch the first bottom mark and the 2nd top mark (1" over). Make all the marks around the cake going one way and then reverse the process to make it diamonds instead of diagonal lines.