Does anyone have any suggestions, tips or how to's on how to get a wood grain look onto buttercream, I am doing a cake for my nephews birthday for saturday, he plays the guitar, its a wooden one with wood grain look , his mom wants me to match the cake to the guitar as close as possible, but does not want any fondant on the cake. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

are you using a crusting BC or not?

if you are using a crusting bc you could use the viva paper towel method to create wood grain.

frost the cake in the main color of the wood, smooth and let crust.

then pipe the "wood grain" with the various shades you like on top in a lined, swirly pattern to mimic the grain, let crust.

then viva paper towel smooth the piped lines, which will make them flat and smooth like the rest of the BC and voila, wood grain.


if you are not using crusting BC I would use a similar method but use a spatula to carefully smooth the piped lines into the base BC

does this make sense?

Aha! Great idea, LeanneW! I started watching this topic because I wanted to know, too, and by gosh, here you are with the goods.

Thanks so much!! Using a crusting buttercream and that made perfect sense!!
Thanks again for the help!!! Greatly Appreciated!!

I've done it many times...I use a wide paint brush and airbrush. Doesn't matter what kind of butter cram you use. Very easy.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1924546
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1841818

You can pick up a wood-graining tool at your local hardware store. Dip it and gently "pull" glide it over the buttercream - EASY!

Yes...the paint brush is for texture..makes the grooves. Then I airbrush for the wood effect.

Thanks so much everyone, and ddaigle your cakes are awesome, thanks for the visual, it helps alot.

Wow, Debbie, your wood grain is incredible! Great cakes!

Hi, i did this method on my sushi cake in buttercream. I used different shades of brown,etc. and used brush to blend in. I thought it turned out good.