I've seen piping that looks like embroidery used for monograms on cakes and was wondering if anyone knows how to do this or if there is a tutorial somewhere for the technique. The picture below is what I'm talking about if my question doesn't make sense. Thanks!

http://www.tobagarrett.com/img/cakes/Lgroom.jpg

I for one would love to know also.

Anyone? If not, does Toba explain how to do this in any of her books?

i haven't had the chance to do it yet, but i think you just pipe an outline in royal icing and use a paint brush to 'pull in' the icing. after it dries you can paint it w/ dry powders. hths!

I'm not sure about the monogram, but the flowers I have seen molds and mats/embossers for.

Toba teaches this in Professional Cake Decorating. She calls it "satin stitch technique". I've scanned the page with the instructions, but it's a bit crooked.
I recommend the whole book, it's very thorough.

is the book called "professional cake decorating"?

Martha Stewart demo'd this cake on her old show. She (or her assistant) did it with a tiny tip (like a 0) and a bag of icing, going back and forth, back and forth--very precisely.

In The Well-Decorated Cake, the basic instructions are:

1. First you outline the letter with royal icing.

2. Then flood with thinned royal icing.

3. Next, using a #0 tip, pipe zigzag lines very close to each other in back-and-forth motion.

edited to add: Before step 3, let dry for a couple of hours.

ooh...seems like that would take forever!

It is very time consuming but if you are only doing a monogram on a cake it is worth the time. On cookies, it is going to take a really long time!

Thank you so much. I thought that was how it was done... (the zigzag motion) but I wanted to see if you all knew. Just something to practice. I love the look with the
"embroidered" flowers.

Thanks!