I tried making my first two BCTs yesterday. The drawings looked wonderful when I peeked right before putting them in the freezer and I was beginning to feel really proud of myself . But things went downhill from there.
I simply am not able to keep crumbs out of my icing when I'm frosting a cake, even though I did a crumb coat first. What could I be doing wrong?
Then the BCTs. Arg! I used Hot Fudge Frosting(http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-801-15-Hot-Fudge-Frosting.html) for the outline and it simply would not come off of the wax paper! And the buttercream seemed to want to stick to the outline... don't quite know why.
One of them--a ballerina--didn't turn out at all (she was SOOO pretty when i drew her too!) The other--five balloons--ended up being only 3, two of them got so mangled they weren't even recognizable. I'll post pictures as soon as I find my usb cable.
Please let me know how to make the BCT come off of the wax paper in one piece. TIA!

I'm so sorry to hear that, I don't know why yours didn't come off the paper! I know how frustrating it can be to spend so much time on something that doesn't work out.

I've only done one BCT, I just used my regular bc recipe (all shortening) and it seemed to come off just fine. I wish I could be more helpful, I'm sure someone else will be able to give some advice!

can you give us more detail about what you did that mangled the transfers so bad.

Here is how i handle a transfer. First i use the same icing as i do to make the bct, i use the recipe that dawn has in her directions. I DON'T freeze, just refridgerate. i make the transfer, with the white icing backing it. Then pop it in the fridge until its hard. Then taking the bct with the waxed paper still on it, i place it on the cake. If its really hot in my house and the bct doesn't want to let loose. I pop the cake and all right back in the fridge, until the bct is solid again, then if its melting too fast in my kitchen i will peal the waxed paper off while the cake is in the fridge. I haven't had a problem doing it this way. It works for me maybe it will work for you.

good luck, this is really a great tecnique when you learn how to do it.

I think it's really important to use the right icing. If you don't like the shortening icing, use butter. Also, just ice your cake with whatever icing you want to use and make a small batch of shortening or butter icing to make your transfer. You will be happier if you do. TRUST ME

Rose

I think it has a lot to do with icing as well. I tried one with my regular BC 1/2 crisco 1/2 butter and I had problems peeling it off the waxed paper. Then I tried Dawn's which is a higher butter content, and it peeled off perfectly. I also read someplace else that butter helps it release better.
I hope all this is true for my 2nd attempt b/c I have a rather big BCT project coming up!
Good luck to you!

I use my regular crusting buttercream made with shortening. The only time I have had the transfers stick to the wax paper was when they were not thick enough. If they are too thin, they thaw fast and will stick to the paper and pull off pieces of it.

http://www.tracescreations.com/stepbystep/sbsbstrans.htm

I had problems with this and I've noticed that different frostings react differently with the wax paper. The trick that I've found is to do a spot test first. That means that if you're plannning to use a new frosting you haven't tried doing a BCt with yet. Place a quarter-size dollop on the wax paper andfreeze or refrigerate like you would the BCT. Once solid enough, try to pull it from the paper. This lets you know if that frosting will stick. On the frostings that stick, I spray a light, even coat of PAM before I start doing the transfer. VERY LIGHT COAT OF PAM.

This always works perfectly for me! Good luck!

I've made a couple now but had to adapt the instructions given on this site. I use 4oz butter, 8oz icing sugar and thin with a little milk to get the correct consistency. Instead of wax paper (which is impossible to find over here) I use butchers wrap which is a clear, thin cellophane sheet (usually sold in cake shops to make royal icing run outs on). The transfers always release immediately with this. As it's hard to find fudge icing over here I just coloured some of the buttercream black, piped my outline, popped it in the freezer for 10 mins to set the outline then carried on as normal