Has anyone tried airbrushing a frozen cake? I wanted to get an airbrush but I'm hesitating now because I used the Wilton color spray on a frozen rose and it was blotchy. There were little dots of color instead of smooth color.
Does anyone have experience with this?
I don't have an airbrush - YET - so I can't help with that, but I do find that the Wilton spray always comes out blotchy!
ARRRRRRRRH! Wilton spray!! I would like to go spray the person that came up with that!!!
Many ruined cakes!!!!
I can't do that... I make ice cream cakes. 
I'm going to be really bummed if I can't use an airbrush. Will some kind soul with an airbrush perform an experiment for me??? Freeze a small slab of buttercream and spray it with your airbrush to see how it comes out.
I would be very grateful since it would save me having to buy an airbrush to experiment with and then possibly having to return it.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.
OK...here are the results of my experiment. It's not a pretty sight. Condensation happens fast...and it's deadly. (I only had ivory BC on hand, BTW).
The first picture is taken immediately after airbrushing. Where I tried to get the design dark (using a stencil) it beaded immediately. Where I just airbrushed a light, shaded ring around the edges...it was fine.
The second picture was after the icing was put back in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Creeping beads.
The last is after I let it sit out for about 10 minutes - as it might have to sit while being served. A big MESS! Even the light shading beaded up!
This is apparently not a good use of airbrushing. I have only airbrushed on fondant, so I don't know....maybe buttercream ALWAYS behaves this way with airbrushing.
I forget every time that the attachments show up in reverse order , so the first one you see is the last picture I took...the one after it had been sitting. The last picture below is the FIRST one I took...right after airbrishing. Sorry for the confusion!
Crimsicle - A HUGE 'Thank you' for conducting this experiment. I very much appreciate the time you took to do it. You have saved me a big hassle in buying, using, and trying to return or being stuck with an airbrush I can't use.
I'm very disappointed 
. I guess my career as an airbrush cake artist is over.
I guess I will just concentrate on other methods. 
Thank you again!
No problem. It was interesting for me, too. I had airbrushed some whipped buttercream the day before, and it didn't behave badly. I had forgotten about that. So, I'm now thinking it IS the condensation that's the problem. It had formed beads of sweat as soon as I had time to fire up the brush - which isn't long.
I've decided to experiment with color flow since airbrushing is out. My understanding is that color flow is done with royal icing but I have to use buttercream to ice the cake with. I read on this forum that buttercream and royal don't play well together. In my case (frozen cake) it might work since they will never really be room temp.
This is an experiment I can do myself! If royal doesn't work, I might try heating up some buttercream to get it to flow.
(Crimsicle - your generosity blew me away)
Buttercream and royal icing are fine together. I've done a million cakes iced with buttercream and royalicing decorations. You just have to support the royal icing fully with the buttercream. If you try to make it sit up and don't put something underneath, it may get soft and slump. This would be true anyway with freezing. It absorbs some moisture but should look fine.
Have you tried buttercream transfer?? That should work really well.
Good Luck
Thanks Jenn123. Maybe it will work. I remember reading somewhere that the grease/butter in buttercream makes the royal break down quickly. I will certainly give it a try.
I am also experimenting with buttercream transfers. I froze a butterfly last night but haven't been in to the shop to check it out yet.
My kopykake projector should be here today... can't wait to experiment with it!
I think that the breaking down of the royal icing is in the mixing. After it is dry, there should be no problems. I've always used royal icing with egg white and cream of tartar. The meringue powder is more brittle in my experience but I've only tried the recipe on the container.
Try using marshmallow flow-in instead of color-flow.
Theresa
i have often come across colorflow on this forum but i haven't had an idea what it is. can someone give me an instruction on how to do it? my email : [email protected]. thanks!
Marshmallow Creme Flow-In is made out of marshmallow creme that you buy in the grocery store. It is slightly heated so it flows from a piping cone.
Welcome to the forum Vanz! You're going to love it here!
Theresa
I sent it to your primary E-mail address.
Theresa
This is the way I do it. Using a piece of parchment, place a picture underneath that you want to reproduce. Trace the outlines with full strength royal icing (I use black). Now you thin the royal icing with water and fill in the picture using a flood technique. You might need to smooth large areas some with your finger.
To thin icing: take full strength royal icing, and add water by drops and STIR IN. Do not beat as it will incorporate too many bubbles. Here is the consistency you need: take a spoon of the mix and drop it back into the batch. It should completely disappear back into the batch in a count between 10 seconds (thinner batch) and 12-13 seconds (thicker batch). Make is a little thicker if you need to add a lot of color.
It is just like coloring with crayons!
Good luck
It's just that I'm not that experienced at anything yet 
I did try using the projector today with good results! At first it was not good because I was trying to outline with icing that was too stiff. I thinned my buttercream and had much better results.
The thing I don't like about transfers is that I can't see the finished product until I freeze it and turn it over and take the wax paper off. Using the projector, I can see all my screw ups right away... and hopefully fix them.
I experimented on wax paper tonight getting ready for two cakes I have to have done by next weekend. This will be my first attempt at recreating an image. After experimenting today, I am more confident that that it will turn out just fine. Here is the image that I'm doing.
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