I was asked to make this cake for a 16 year girl birthday (see below). But instead of tinkerbell, mom wanted a generic fairy.
We searched hi and lo and could not find one that she liked. She finally decided on an edible transfer, which would not fit on this cake.
I have to turn this cake (in the pic) into a sheet cake.
Now, since the top needs to be white so that the color won't show through the edible image, how do I incorporate the lavender color?
Should I make the top of the cake white and the sides lavender?
She also fell in love with the bow, but I can't figure out where I could place a bow like this one on a sheet cake. The edible image takes up almost the whole top of the cake. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
TIA Lainee
I was thinking maybe you could make the sheet cake two layers and ice the sides in purple and the top white. I think you would still have room to put the bow around the side of the cake. You could then put flowers around the top edge. I guess I'm picturing a sheet cake that looks like the top layer in the picture you posted. Make sense? By the way, it's a really pretty cake...I'm sure yours will be even better!!
Top white and sides lavender sounds great to me. The bow I would try to put either at the top or the bottom of the image. If there is no room there I would try to fit it at a slant in one of the corners. Good luck. Also, you could still put it on the side of the cake like the one in the picture but that will be one heck of a bow to go around a sheet cake.
I would suggest putting a bow along the long side of the cake (or both), but not wrapping them all the way arround...not sure how to explain without graphics, but think of it as one of those bows that has the plastic button on the back that you pop into the box...just have wisps of ribbon going off both sides so that about 2/3rds of the side edge is 'covered'...or place it at the bottom or on the corner of the top as an accent to the image...
I agree the top white & sides lavender will be very pretty. Or you could the entire cake in lavender except where the image will be & maybe just do a small ivy border around the image to hide where the colors meet. I would do the bow angled along opposing corners like a gift box & do flowers as the border on the top & bottom.
BellaRosa
I would do the lavender on the sides and then white on top... You could do little drop flowers in different shades of lavender.
Here's a couple cakes that may help you with ideas... The first one is a tinkerbell cake I did...Is this the edible image you'll be using?? I did the white on top and a lavender color on the sides with scrolls.. The second one is a cupcake cake I did. I just wanted to show you how you could incorporate a bow on a sheet cake.
Hope these help!! 
oops... I read your post wrong... Your doing a generic fairy.
First of all, you guys are awesome. Thank you so much for the suggestions and pics. Do you think I could still do the sides purple with a one layer cake. I think it will be difficult to cover a small amount of space in a different color. Heck it was difficult for me to put the same color icing on the sides of a one layer sheet cake, LOL. 2 layers would be too much cake for them.
Thanks for your suggestion, BellaRosa. I am leaning towards the bows on opposing corners, because that sounds like the easiest. I still very wet behind the ears. LOL
TamiAZ your thanks for posting your cakes. Your tinkerbell cake is too adorable. I love the bow on the yellow cake, I just don't think it will fit on my cake. I will probably throw a couple of butterflies on mine too.
I had the same reaction as Jen. Do you have a graphics program? Maybe you could shift the hue toward the purples. I did a quick and dirty shift just to show what I'm talking about. If you don't have the ability to diddle with the hue, you could email it to me, and I would be happy to do it for you.
I like the idea of doing the sides in lavender and top in white. Otherwise, you could fill in an area with the white, apply the image and then add a little border to neaten it up. You definitely need white behind the image, or she will look ghastly.
Crimsicle, that looks great. Unfortunately, I don't have a graphics program or an edible image printer. I actually orderd the image from the internet. I will have to work with the colors I have, so probably will do light blue instead of lavender. It is good to know the possibillities that are out there, for the next time. Thank you so much for offering to help.
I like the idea somebody said of maybe like icing an oval or circle in the center where the image will go, and then icing the rest of the cake purple or blue or whatever the color is. So its like a circle picture frame in the center.
You could even offset the image to like the left side of the cake, put the bow diagonally at the top right corner, and then write the message on the right side of the cake.
I know, it gets to be such a hassle when mom can't decide what she wants, or keeps changing her mind! Its crazy when it takes weeks and weeks to decide on a cake and by the time you actually make the thing, you are breathing a sigh of relief that its over. I am not sure how people can even enjoy something after they've invested that much time haggling about the design. LOL!
From what I can tell, that bow on the cake you are working from does not go all the way around the back of the cake. I would go with the white top, purple or blue sides, flowers all around the top edge just barely closing in around the image. Put your bow and the ribbon runners all the way across the front side of the cake with the ribbon edges curled up just slightly, but don't make the bow so wide that you can't see the cake is iced in blue behind it. Well, I don't know if it helps any but I tried to pull a few colors out for you...here is the image with bubbles of color next to the color I wanted to emphasize. It looked like there was a hint of aqua or teal on the edges of the wings...don't know, but here is what I saw and tried to pull out a bit.
Here is an idea........why don't you get one of those polymer clay books....I have seen one that is full of fairies......maybe she would liek something from there, they have great step by step instructions on how to mold them...just use the fondant instead of clay and make your own. Oh and if you look in my photos there is one with a fairy...the mushroom one.....I got that at a dollar store for a buck, it was sitting on a high heeled shoe....I smacked it on the counter and broke the shoe off LOL Maybe you should hit your local dollar store..they have beautiful fairies in the knick knack section..
Crimsicle, I ordered the image from an ebay store. I just did a search for "edible image fairy" and a couple of choices came up. The mom liked the one I posted the best.
Here's a link:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=edible+image+fairy
Note you will see that one company is cheaper, but the one that charges a few dollars more will personalize the image. I had them put "Happy Sweet 16 Kirsten" on the image. Well, actually, they put it underneath. One less thing I have to do (write) on the cake.
You may also want to try the technique I used on this cake. It is a simple way to have any colors you want on the cake and just add the piece on top.
You can try suggesting this to the customer and see what they have to say about it.
Here is how I did it. First you find any picture you like from your preferred source (internet, coloring book, etc.)
You need a Wonder cutter. This is a foam cutting devide for about $11 (professional cutters sell for $100.00) found at any craft store. See link for example (http://www.dickblick.com/zz608/02/).
You print out the drawing or photo on cardboard, cut it out as close to the edge as possible, glue it to the foam using white glue and put pressure on it for a minute so it will really stick. After that you take the wonder cutter and just follow the paper border. It will not cut paper, it does heat and cut the foam. Then arrange as desired. Never use Super Glue or Crazy glue on these, it eats the foam.
KHalstead, your fairies look great. Thanks for posting the picture and for sharing the info.
Gegon, thank you for the idea. I would never have thought to use craft foam. Youc can really do some cute things with that. Excellent.
You guys are the best, really. Thanks again to everyone for the help. I really didn't have a clue. I'm still fairly new, this is actually only my 2nd order. After going through this, I don't know that I would want to make this a biz. Maybe offer gourmet cakes that look really nice, but not all of the choices of deco and colors. It's too much for me, especially since I'm only charging for the ingredients and will probably end up under charging on that. Because, when I think I'm only going to have to pay for the ingredients I'm thinking okay maybe $10 but this cake is added up to about $20, without my time, or my electric. LOL
Usually it is recommended that you multiply the cost of your total ingredients and cake boards and anything else you use by 2.5 or 3 to get your cake price. I think you should consider this. If the cake is for someone in the family or a great friend, you can make it as a gift or charge less but, if you are doing this for other people, you should start charging what you really would charge or people will get used to the cheap prices and you'll never be able to raise your prices to where they should be.
People tend to think that cakes are made in 30 minutes just because they see a lot in display at supermarkets but, they don't realize the effort we put into them and the time it consumes.
Gegon you are absolutely right. This is for a family member, and I think I will give them an itemized list of all of the ingredients and packaging so they can see this stuff really does add up. Also, the next time someone asks me to make a cake I will be quick to say that I charge X amount per serving, and more depending on the detail. On this cake they just asked me to make it, and I thought it would be straight forward so just told them I'd do it at cost and donate my time, but with all of the changes, it seems to be more work than I expected.
Thanks again everyone for your help. I have finished the cake and have posted in the gallery. It was too big to put in here. I opted to leave the bow out, this cake is for a relative so I don't think they will be too upset. Here is a link to the photo. Thanks again.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&pos=-37279
The cake came out really beautiful, especially with the flower border. You don't always have to have the edible image on white frosting. You can put the image on a fondant plaque which is white, then the frosting on the top can be any color (even chocolate) and the image is still clear.
The cake came out really beautiful, especially with the flower border. You don't always have to have the edible image on white frosting. You can put the image on a fondant plaque which is white, then the frosting on the top can be any color (even chocolate) and the image is still clear.
Thank you VickiC, for the compliment and for telling me about the fondant plaque, great idea. I will definitely keep that in mind in the future. You can't really see in this picture, but I ended up makig the sides of the cake a light blue and the bottom border is shells in the same blue.
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