I see cakes with "flat" designs on the sides of the cakes such as animals, people, trucks, etc. I am wondering how to do this. Is this used with cookie cutters or what. I had seen a cake, cant remeber where, it had zoo animals, FLAT, on the sides of the cakes, and detailed. ANy help appreciated. Thanks.

Either this is edible transfer sheet or handpainted on. Nothing you could pipe or cut out is going to come out perfectly flat.

yes it is. it is made with fondant then layed on the sides of the cake, but i am looking for the cutters.

are you talking about flat gumpaste figures that are made and then put onto an iced or fondant covered cake?

I've done designs on the side of cakes just cutting out of fondant whatever design I need using an xacto. It's never perfectly flat but still looks good.

Yep - you can use cookie cutters to cut the fondant, then place any detail on them with more fondant. You might be seeing some done with the Cricut cake, too.

you may be talking about use the cricut expression , cake cricut, or one of the cricut machines. to do this. linda mcclure had some on this site once. check into that. the pix are also on her site. deseretdesigns.comhth

Sounds like you're talking of this type of cake.
http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/jungle-cake.html#c12
http://www.asofainthekitchen.com/2008/07/day-night-cake.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1622908.html
If this is it, there are no cutters.
Whimsical bakehouse has instructions on them, they are chocolate transfers; there is also a tutorial here on CC.

are you referring to chocolate transfers? Like on this cake?? Just piped chocolate on wax paper, let it harden and peel off and stick on sides of cake!

I usually just mold or cut out of fondant/gumpaste and let dry. Then, I attach with melted candy melts or brushed with water.

If its something you dont want to freehand, or cant find a cutter for then make a copy of it on the computer out of a coloring book, or magazine, then get it the size you want, cut it out, lay it on fondant and cut it with a scalpel. once thats done, you can embelish it with more fondant peices, or paint, or piping. let it dry and stick it on.

Another possible solution to this idea is to bake a this flat sheet cake like you would use for a jelly roll type cake. Gesine Bullock Prado did one with the words Love in pink cake on a yellow cake background. She cut this cake to fit the sides of a standard cake, wrapped it around and attached it with buttercream.

Here is her website, she has a video available of how to do this
http://confectionsofamasterbaker.blogspot.com/

Take a look in my pictures. If the car one (cars on the side) and the fairy one (fairy on the top) is what you're talking about, they are done using 50% gumpaste and 50% fondant (so it doesn't stretch while cutting) and using a new clean Xacto knife to cut out the image using a template. A template is made out of cardstock and cut out first into pieces. Then attach to the cake with just vanilla or water. Hope this helps!