Hi all! I'm making a zebra cake for a friend week after next. They have requested that I don't use any fondant. Since I'm new to cakes and have not worked with fondant yet, the other zebra cakes I've made were using those Wilton sugar sheets which I feel like is cheating! I bought a zebra stencil and have found YouTube tutorials on using stencils, but my main question is should I use royal icing for the stenciling or should I use buttercream? The YouTube tutorial shows buttercream, but the instructions that came with the stencil say to use royal icing. What are the pros and cons for both? Thanks in advance for the help!

I use both interchangeably, and they perform almost identically. the Wilton black icing right out of the premade tubes is perfect for stenciling. Either way do not use an icing too think, or you will get smears. have fun!

Great! Thanks for the tip on the thickness. I'm going to make a practice cake this weekend, hopefully it's as easy as it looks!

I experimented on my last wedding cake and I liked RI better. I was stenciling over IMBC and the RI seemed to do a finer detail.