ok this is what she wanted but I'm a little ashame of the writing I don't write much on cakes (for a raeson)

Have you ever tried writing in chocolate? I do it almost exclusively. It flows out of the bag instead of you having to squeeze it out so the lines are much more natural. And if you mess up, it sets up and you can pick the letter off with tweezers and start over.

Since you don't feel very confidant about your writing, you should practice. Clean your counter top well and then just write on it. You can reuse the icing over and over again. Just scrap it off and refill the bag. You will be writing on cakes in no time.

Print off what you want to write on your cake in your chosen font & font size (I bold it to make sure that it shows). Place under wax paper. Tape down so that it does not move. Use melted chocolate or Wilton candy melts to write over the letters.Place in fridge till set. Carefully lift message off using a spatula.Place on cake. I still have not mastered writing on cakes & this works for me all the time. Hope this helps.

Sometimes what I do is write with a toothpick right in the icing. That way I can go over it with my icing right on the cake and no one notices. Also you can put a piece of mint green floss or a piece of string that you can see and then you will know where to pipe!

Brutal answer here. It looks like mine.

I recently found on this forum that some people are printing a font off their computer and using piping gel to trace. I will be doing that next cake.

For some reason, I have very very neat writing and it all goes down the drain when I do my cakes. Not sure why.

Hope I didn't offend you. I didn't mean anything bad by it.

If you don't like to write.. why not try a set of the impression letter sets? They come in print and script and you just place them on the cake, they make an impression and then you just pipe over the impression- REALLY easy. Hope that helps.

Your cake looks nice and neat-neat edges and the frosting looks smooth so if you just work at the writing you'll be in business!

I actually cant write on cakes if it isnt done in chocolate either! I think mine comes out so much better than buttercream!

I know what you mean about writing. I have very nice handwriting, except when under the pressure of doing it on a cake. I print out the words and punch holes with a thumb tack (place paper over a piece of cardboard), then place on cake and rub. It makes a decent template and you just connect the dots.

OMG!!!!! I'm SO embarassed
I should have looked at your photos beofre I commented. Your cakes are wonderful! Hope I didn't offend by saying that you are "on your way" Your cakes are SO much better than mine. Open mouth insert foot! Sorry!

A Couple things to try when you practice.

1. Limit your space...perhaps draw a circle on wax paper liek a cake or something

2. If you have trouble judging the space start at the bottom and go up...so you would have written aJason first then moved up.

3. Add piping gel to buttercream to make it flow more easily.

4. Pipe on letter at a time and always raise your bag before moving on to the next letter. Printing is easier to make look neat than cursive.

5. You can try to remove letters with a toothpick to redo them...best if you have not already done a border so you can rece if needed.

6. Make your words smaller and gradually practice getting larger. Larger letters leave more room for shaky letters or forming errors.

7. Hold your breath and move your arm not your wrist as when you use a pencil. When i write I move from my shoulder...somehow it is smoother. And just like when taking pictures, holding your breath makes you shake less.

8. And no matter how much this does not make sense...don't slow down...speed up. Again the shaky factor.

I hope this helps...take heart...just practice, you can do it.

Good Luck,

Julia

thank you so much for all the tips I never realized how many people were having problems with writing all this helps. I was not at all planning on charging my friend she is so sweet! but she left me a check for $25 anyways I think she overpaid she was going to add a little car on top of the cake so it looks better at least I know it will taste good, chocolate cake with buttercream dream!

icingandsprinkles- I think with a little more practice and the tips left here will help you. Your cake is really nice by the way! How did you get the squares on the sids so perfect? What did you use?

Obviously your friend liked what she saw or else she wouldn't have left you a check! You should be proud with whatever you do. I bet it tasted great too!

It was only a 2" 13 x 9 cake so I used the smallest square in the Wilton set of fondant square cutters it is not perect so I pushed them a little and covered the little space with the border on the bottom. thanks for your compliments, it will now be my goal to write on free cakes for practice

I'm in the same boat with you! I think I just get nervous when it comes to the handwriting, its pretty much a one shot deal. On my last cake I went on MS Word and printed out the font and size I wanted and traced it in marker, flipped it up side down and placed a piece of wax paper on it and traced in piping gel the I put it on the cake to get my outline. I also recommend putting some piping gel in with your BC icing it makes it flow better. But I guess practice makes perfect, that's what I need...LOTS OF PRACTICE!

I find by printing the message out exactly the way you want it on the cake, font, size, spacing, layout etc. put in a plastic sleeve and practice a couple of letters to get a feel for the shaping, wipe clean, then sit it in front of your cake and copy it. i find it really helps with spacing and layout to see exactly what your are doing.....it has helped improve my writing.....(a little!!!)

but I think the key to it is practice!!