I will be attempting my first FBCT. Question, to keep from looking like a plaque sitting on top of cake should I taper the edges off so they will blend in with icing or should I just go ahead and make the size of top of cake (the final layer that matches icing)? I am going to do a small round cake just to practice handleing the FBCT. TIA for any help.

It would look best of you just make it the size of the top of the cake. I do it that way and then do a shell border and it works great. Good luck on your first one - can't wait to see pictures!!

you can try just using a thin layer of icing for your design. when i started doing these, they sat real high on my cakes so i ended up putting borders around them. i didn't like that, then i read here that others just lay it on thin and it worked great. my Bob the Builder cake (in my photos) was the first time i tried it and i loved how it turned out. good luck!

if you dont want the fbct above the frosting then i would do the entire top an fbct because if you taper off the edges there is a chance that it might break on you.

Wow, your Bob the Builder cake is awesome! I would love to try to do a thin one. Did you do anything differently, or do you just do the same method but really thin?

thanks fancymcnancy. i used Squirrelly Cakes's recipe and followed the instructions in calidawn's tutorial. just used a very thin layer and made sure to go over all the outlines to connect the different sections, and applied a thin layer over the entire design at the end and prayed it wouldn't break. haha. it was for my nephew's birthday and i really wanted to impress the SIL.

thanks merissa. Squirrelly's recipe gives me the best results. the icing consistency is perfect. i don't know if it crusts, and i was never concerned about that. one thing i do, especially for large sections of a single color, is try not to pick up my icing tip before i finish the section. i just do swirly motions and squeeze until the entire area is covered. this is the best way for me to keep air bubbles out. did that make sense?

here's Squirrelly's post with her recipe.

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:49 pm

Actually you want a thinner consistency icing for a buttercream transfer, one that will flow easily. So if you thickened it up, it will not flow well and will be more difficult to smooth.
I use 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups of icing sugar
I beat the butter on low until completely softened and add the shortening, again on low. Then I add the vanilla on low. Then I add the icing sugar.
The other thing I do differently, is I let the completed transfer sit for about 25 minutes, then sprinkle some icing sugar on top, then press down vertically, actually a gentle pouncing motion, to get rid of any squiggle worm effect until smooth. Then I put the final coat of icing on top, again wait the 25 minutes and sprinkle on more icining sugar and smooth with fingers again vertically down. Then I carefully smooth over with a spatula. then I sprinkle a bit more icing sugar on top, cover it with parchment paper and bag the whole thing, glass and all and freeze. I tend to freeze these overnight for up to two weeks.
If this is your first transfer and you are not sure of what consistency you need the icing to be, I would suggest you try this recipe. It is exactly the right consistency. Once you know that, you can use Dawn's or anyone elses buttercream and thin it down so it is like this consistency. Just a suggestion.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

WOW! Ask and you shall receive! I was just getting ready to do a search for FBCT for a cake I'm making for a friends little boy. This site is just too cool!!! Thanks chakkakin for squirrelly's old post w/ recipe and directions - saved me lots of time .... now I can cruise the galleries!!!
Mel

I am so glad you posted your question. I am also trying my first FBCT this weekend and this has also helped me. Best of Luck.

Sara

oh! about the plaque look, if you take a look at my Hello Kitty bday and the Super Hello Kitty, you can see about how high they sit off the cake. it won't be completely flat unless you do the entire top as a fbct. i did that for my safari cake. but doing the entire top is not always an option cuz they just won't fit in my freezer! lol.

I also did my firs FBCT this weekend (it was on my first paid for cake) I did it on Sunday and the cake was to be picked up on Tuesday. Monday night I put it all together and was very happy how it turned out (so was my customer)

Chakkin - THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INVALUABLE INFORMATION ON FBCT'S !!! I did my first one a couple of weeks ago (see in my gallery - the Diego cake) - It turned out pretty well, but I also didn't like that it sat up higher on the cake. I was convinced I had to make it "thick" so it wouldn't crack while transferring it to the cake. Well, it cracked anyway (Diego lost his legs --- ooooohhhh, Noooooo !!!). I managed to salvage the legs (thank God)..... I didn't come up with a good "plan" for "flipping" the transfer to the cake (sigh). I made the HUGE mistake of trying to turn the transfer over ...just out of the freezer ...to (ok, don't laugh), a cooling rack (DUUHHHHH). It froze to the metal. How STUPID was THAT ???

I'm making a groom's cake with a Grateful Dead logo on it for Saturday and I think I will do the whole top of the cake the FBCT. I hope this isn't difficult and maybe you can give me some good pointers on how to make that successful (like yours !!). What is the best way to transfer the transfer to the cake??? Thanks so much for your help !!

Now I am more nervous than ever that mine will crack. I am doing a 11x15 cake and the transfer will be half of it. Should I do the entire length of the cake? Does this help, or look better? Thank you so much for all of your information.

auntsushi, you crack me up. haha.

i am no expert by any means, but this is what i've learned my from experiences with fbct's. when transferring from freezer to cake, work quickly. they soften up so fast! i've done some with Whipped Cream Buttercream and some with Squirrelly's recipe, and i'm sticking with Squirrelly's from now on. hers stays firm a little bit longer. i think if you do the entire top as a fbct, putting it on the cake will be easier. you don't have to worry about messing up the iced cake. i usually use Pastry Pride, which is very unforgiving. one wrong move... ack! so for the entire top, you can also make it thicker and it will be easier to handle. carefully flip it onto the cake and slowly peel off the wax....

oh yeah! very important. crisco your wax paper before you start. i've lost bits of outline to my wax paper when i forgot this step.

for smaller designs, after one day in the freezer (i usually make them one week in advance), i peel the wax off and flip it right side up, just so i know that it's intact. if it starts falling apart... well... start over . i don't want to flip it on my cake, try to peel the wax off, and have it break on me. i don't work well under pressure! lol. so after i get the wax paper off, it's back to the freezer. and when i'm ready, i just plop the thing onto the cake. i don't know how well this technique will work for larger cakes (i haven't made anything larger than a quarter-sheet). Yoda was my biggest fbct, but he went on a crusting bc, so that made it easier. i flipped him on the cake first, then peeled. and he was pretty thick. this was before i discovered the thin layer would work.

ok, i think i talk too much. lol. hope this helped. if you have any other questions, i'm happy to help.

Sorry it took so long to get back, had to get some work done although it worked out well I got such great advice from all of you. Thank you so much and I will post pictures(probably on Monday) no matter how it comes out. Thanks again.

Is it absolutely necessary to crisco the wax paper? I just made my first FBCT and it's in the freezer, did I just waste my time?

Thanks for the recipe chakkakin! I may have to try it!

I have done a few FBCT's and they have turned out pretty good, still working a little bit on getting them completely smooth though. But my advice is to use parchment instead of wax paper. *I havent tried wax paper however, but I have read a lot of posts where people say they get stuck to wax paper and break. I have never had any sticking to parchment. I specifically use the wilton silicone treated kind. Nothing sticks to this stuff. They only draw back it that it is hard to tape down, because even the tape doesnt want to stick to it!! I also do royal letters on parchment, and they come right off. I tried once on wax paper and they got stuck and broke. So I am a fan of parchment all the way!!*

I also have done a few FBCT over the entire surface and they turn out really nice. Though I havent done anything larger than an 8 inch, so i dont know what the trick would be for placing a large FBCT. the pooh smash cake and the hibiscus cake in my gallery are examples. Though I did this mostly because I also dont like them sticking up so high, but maybe the trick is to do them thinner as chakkakin says.

it -should- be okay, but when i crisco the wax paper, i don't have any problems peeling it off.

Chakkin - or anyone else that can help.....I'm making this FBCT transfer BC as we speak and I have a question about the shortening. Your recipe on this thread says 1/2 CUPS shortening. Is this supposed to be 1/2 CUP or something more (you said CUPS)......EEEKKK.

Thanks so much !!
Suzanne

Oh, duh, I guess I could try to find squirrleycakes recipe in the recipes section, too. But maybe your answer will help clarify faster...thanks!!!

Now that I look at the recipe again, I think I have figured it out (hopefully). I am guessing that it is 1/2 cup shortening. There is only 2 cups of powdered sugar in this, so any more crisco would probably make this too, too, thin. No?

It should say "1/2 cup".

I just put my first FBCT in the freezer. I am doing the cake in the a.m. - will there be the possibility of wax paper sticking if I covered the top with it?

Wish me luck!!!

I have used wax paper for FBCTs and had no problem with it sticking. It peeled right off for me.

Do you think it would be easier to transfer FBCT to top of cake if I put crumb coat and thin layer of icing on top layer of cake then put the iced (top) layer over FBCT then flipped over and put top layer over rest of cake then removed the cardboard cake round and parchment paper. Would that work maybe???? Maybe if I left all together in freezer for a bit they'd be frozen enough to flip without cracking.

how big is your transfer??

planning on doing a 9 x 2 inch round for practice.

dolfin, i've never tried that technique before, but i think if you're fbct is sufficiently thick, it should handle okay out of the freezer and you can just plop it on top of your cake. good luck!

I've done an 8inch round (total surface of the cake) and I was able to handle that fine...no problems.

thanks.