I have been asked to do a wedding cake covered with fondant and scroll work. I can't draw at all. Any suggestions? The cake will be three tiered covered in white fondant with black scroll work on the bottom 1/3 of each tier. She wants the scroll work to match the embroidery on her wedding dress. HELP!

I don't know many people who can do scroll work freehand. You can buy those things from Wilton that are shaped like scrolls and you imprint them into your cake. They look like cookie cutters but they are not cookie cutters. There are several designs that come in a package. You smooth your cake with buttercream or fondant and then imprint the scrolls you like onto your cake. Then you pipe over the indentations with the colors you like. I hope I've explained this well enough. Maybe someone knows what those things are called.

Good Luck!

In the two wedding cakes in my photos, I have done scroll work. The purple flowered one, I printed the scrolls onto cardstock, then poked holes along the lines using a stright pin. Then after my icing had crusted, I pressed the design onto the sides of the cake. This created a pattern that I could then follow with piping.

The other cake (also my avatar) I used the scrolls from wilton. It just depends on the design the brides wants.

you're talking about pattern presses. There are a few different sets of them. If you aren't comfortable doing your scrollwork freehand, they would probably help in most cases

but if your pattern must match the brides dress, those probably won't help. But sun33082 has a good idea, but i don't know if that would work for piping onto fondant... i don't think the pinpricks would leave enough of an impression.

I think if you just practice the scrolls, since you have a set pattern you have to use, it might help.

black scrolls on white, no pressure, right? Good luck!

Missed the fondant part. In that case, print the pattern onto the thinnest paper possible, and lay it against the fondant, and use a toothpick to prick the holes directly onto the fondant through the paper. some people trace the pattern onto wax paper and then lay that onto the fondant and prick with a tooth pick.

Get a photo of the pattern on her dress and take it to a copy shop and have it sized to the size scrolls you will use on the cake. Place the paper on a clean kitchen towel and use a sewing tracing wheel to punch the holes into the paper, then hold the paper on the side of the cake and use the tracing wheel again to go over the already punched holes to leave an impression in the fondant that can be traced with your frosting (if on buttercream, just rub the lines and it will leave the impression in the frosting).

Thanks so much for all of your ideas. I am hoping it will work out.

I have several of the British books and they recommend using the pin prick system on fondant- so I guess it can be done.

I've been wanting to try out the royal icing technique- you could use a stencil and brush on or pipe royal icing, then paint over it?

Now, I just read a lot- I haven't actually done this.

Hopefully someone with experience will chime in on the royal icing technique.

Good luck, can't wait to see the cake!