I bought the Wilton Letters that you can put on the bar and press into the cake...one, they don't fit right on the bar, and two, if you want to letter on a curve, the bar doesn't work. Does anyone know of another product out there that would work for lettering a cake...particularly if you don't trust your free-hand completely. I know the toothpick method, but still wander if there are other options out there. Any advise would be great! Really don't trust myself to do script!

take a knife or a pair of dikes (wire cutters) to the stubs and just cut them flush and it will be find..

I love them my writting sucks too and this one of the best things they got out... you can like someone else said just them with out the bar and just press them one at a time...

I have good writing I just can't stay in a straight line So I use the italic letters. I really like them. I don't put them in the bar, it's a waste of time. I dip each letter I'm gonna use in some colored icing... then I press it where I want it to go. I couldn't see the indention w/out the colored icing that's why I use colored icing. Works like a charm! With the gadgets.. you have to figure a way for them to work for you~

You could use letter cutters to cut the letters out of candy clay or fondant. Wilton makes a set...they're like little cookie cutters almost. The best part is that if you use crusting BC, you can slide the letters around until they're in the right position and then just push them down into the icing. I've used them on a few of my cakes in My Photos if you want to see what they look like.

Lisa, that's something that I've never used. I see so many cakes done that way & they do look very nice too! I have left over fondant that I could use just for that! Glad you mentioned it!

Another idea is to do all of your writing on wax paper with a piece of computer printed paper underneath in candy melts, chocolate, royal icing (if you have enough time for it to really dry), whatever. While it is very fragile, it may be worth the trouble if you have very bad cake penmanship. If you only have problems keeping in a strieght line, try the floss trick.

I know what you mean about having problems with the letters in the Wilton bar set. I had to take my wire cutters and cut about an eighth of an inch off each piece, and some of them, like the A, I had to indent part of the raised letter for it to fit. Even then, I cannot tell you how many fingernails I have broken trying to get the letters in and out, not to mention the fact that my fingers hurt for hours after some of them get stuck and I have to try to get them out. I have also cut myself on some of the letters, and that should tell you how hard I have had to push/pull/pry at them to get them in and out.

The things we go through to make people smile at a cake huh? You gotta love it!

Crystal

you all had alot of great ideas....i hate to write on cakes also.....i use the wax paper method if needed....but ussually never write on the cakes.
i just try to make it up in another way.....

I have the same thing as you do...and all I did was I put the letters in the bar...some fit great others didnt, but it didnt matter to me... and I would put the spacers that come with it, after the words and before, they held fine.... and when I wanted it on a curve all I did was used the same letters and just pressed them into the frosting...I used dental floss for the straight curve and tape on the back of the letters so I had a way to get the letters off... so if you are in a bind... you can use what you have...but I dont have any other tip for ya... sorry.

I can't write with icing for the life of me either so what I have to do is to print off the message on my printer using whatever font I like and then I place a piece of wax paper over top and follow with the icing. I then freeze it for about 15 minutes then peel them carefully off and place on the cake quickly. If my hands are too warm I have to keep putting it back in the freezer until I get all of the letters on the cake. It works well for me and no one knows my little trick

Following up on sgirvan's method -- what if you reversed the printed paper lettering, put BC on the back after piping the letters, and turn the words into a BCT. Has anyone tried this?

I have the wilton letters too and have found that maybe one end is slightly wider than the other, so I use the "loose" end to load and unload. Otherwise, it is impossible!!! I also had to clip off the little tabs with scissors to get them to fit. I love mine.

I have used the letters not in the holder by making them kinda whimsical. See my Pilgrim Hat cake. I did that there.

OK, guys and gals....How do you get the icing flush with the writing (like and edible image)? A technique for those of us that don't have one of those handy gadgets.

I don't know that you can with that thing. Mine just sits on top.

I doesn't have to be with the bottle, just in general.

I'm sorry, I don't know the answer. But it is a good question.

I know that Godiva used a screen. She said that it worked okay, but she still had to fill it in with a paint brush. I tried painting on the icing, but it didn't work. I was just wondering if any one knew. I'll post as a new topic.

boy, all this time i thought it was just my kit that did that!

I also have the Wilton letters, when I first got them I couldnt get most of them into the holder. I ended up taking a piece of sand paper and lightly sanding all the letters until they fit it took a few hours but I was able to do it at work It killed some down time. For using them on a curve I do what Flayvurdfun does except I use a narrow strip of tape on the back of the letters.