Two questions.. first is about BCT. I am preparing to do my first BCT, and I was reading how to do it. The first question is, do buttercream transfers sweat once you put them on the cake after a bit, and if so does the color bleed onto cake? If so how do you have this not happen.
Second question is about decorating the side of the cake. How do you "do" side decorating without having a tilting turntable. I know how to do the different loops, ruffles and such but worry about the doing the sides. I am shaky as it is when I decorate (hands move and shake) and if I am writing on a cake without using a press the letters look preschoolish, so doing sides kind of scare me. I have only done it once or twice and since it was so long ago I panic. HELP~!

I had colors bleed onto others after taking the cake out of the fridge/freezer, it has to do with air condensation. I just fixed it the best I could using a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess of moisture. ==Try to be calm when you start writing on a cake and take a deep breath and don't rush. I've noticed that when I feel self-assured the handwriting comes out neater. However, if there's a lot of traffic in my kitchen while I'm writing, I'll just mess it up. It's better for me to do it when everyone is sleeping.==To do the sides of the cake, I place a cookie cutter underneath the turntable to lift the side I'll be decorating. Good luck and keep us posted.

OK thanks! I will see what I do, and if I get something out of it ( a good cake) then I will post it! Thanks again!

Use boxes (if the counter isn't high enough) to bring the cake up to where you need it. I do this quite often, because the tilting turntable isn't all it's cracked up to be... I own one, I know.

I've never had a problem with bleeding on any cake, including frozen cakes or icing. But yes, the biggest thing is keeping condensation off your cake. Place it inside a cake box while defrosting. This may help.

Another pointer for doing writting.... Make sure your icing is pretty thin. I also put some piping gel in it. Makes is shinny & flows better.

Another thing... don't use tip 1 or tip 2. I use tip 3 or higher. It flows better.

Another tip... a friend of mine is left handed & he has a very hard time doing writting. So he holds the bag in his right hand & then puts his left hand on top of the right hand & guides it while he's applying pressure w/ the right hand. Works everytime for him.

Another tip... guide your bag w/ a finger of the hand that you don't have the bag in. That helps me out.

Practice gets you better & better~ It worked for me!!

I have usually found that wilton colors have a tendency to bleed more because you sometimes have to use so much of them to get the desired color. Try using a brand like Americolor- it's a gel in a squeeze bottle (no more digging color out with a toothpick), and you can use much less coloring.

Americolor isnt available over here in Germany....not that I have found anyway, in fact you cant even find a cake decorating magazine, or book!!
I have seen Wilton yearbook but thats it. So I will use my wilton.

Now with this. what tip would I use to outline for a BCT, and what consistency would I use???? I am getting ready right now to start 2...I have 4 cakes to do for this weekend..... and want to see if BCT will turn out ok, if not then I do my normal......

Here's the tutorial on this site- it looks like it needs to be thick, and probably a tip 2 or 3.
http://www.cakecentral.com/article12.html

yeah I have that copied...but it didnt say what tip, so I asked. My BCT looks a little wormy, so I have pressed it a little and refroze, but I still see the lines. I dont think I can do these but will continue to try....

When I wrote the tutorial I didn't put the tip number because that all depends on you and the effect you're wanting.

If you are wanting a more cartoonish looking BCT, use a thicker tip, 3 or so. If you want a more delicate looking BCT, use a 1 or maybe a 2. These decisions only you can make.

Always use a firm icing for the lining. Mine is actually so firm it almost hurts my hand to pipe it. It's hard, but the end result is that mine doesn't smear at all- ever.

For the filling-in, your icing needs to be medium to thin- the thinner the better. You also have to decide which tip you want to use for this. If you have small cervices to fill in, you'll not want to use a 5. Sometimes I use a very small tip for the pesky corners and switch to a larger tip for the more open areas.

All of this info only you can decide what is best for your BCT.