Let's have a discussion on the pros and cons of buttercream transfers vs. Color Flow. I've been wondering about this for a while.

I'm currently working on decorations for my daughter's birthday cake. I did a buttercream transfer of Jojo (a preschool character from Disney) on Tuesday night. I decided to do a FBCT on her mainly because she's pretty big (almost 9" tall) and I didn't know if a color flow that big would break. It seems like with this amount of work that I should have more control over the finished side. I liked the side I was working on better than the "underside" which will be the finished top. It looks ok, I'm probably just being too picky...

Then last night I did Goliath (Jojo's pet lion, hehe) in color flow because he needs to stand up on the cake. I also did a number 2 and some other smaller flower things in color flow. I was so much happier with how the color flow looks than the buttercream transfer. It is a little more effort to keep the color flow free from the crusties that form on the edges of your mixing cups and utensils. I also keep the main bowl covered with a wet cloth and keep a squirt bottle handy.

Also, is the fear of the color flow breaking more than the actual possibility of it breaking? I've only done a few pieces, but never really had the feeling that it could break. (of course you have to be really careful with it) I use the Wilton recipe and make sure to fill in nice and pillow-y thick.

I'll let you know more after the cake is finished. I promise to post a picture this time!!! I would be happy to share my color flow procedures if anyone is interested. Not until after the cake is done, though. LOL

Sorry for the novel, but I think this is a topic worth discussion. Thanks in advance.

I tried my first FBCT and it was a disaster of my own making lol .. I didn't make it thick enough, but I will say, when I checked it to make sure I had filled it in well enough, it looked adorable.. but it stuck to the wax paper like glue and wouldn't peel off .. another thing was, I didn't use the icing recipe that called for butter in it .. I used an all shortening based icing which I thing attributed to my problems.. so in short, I self inflicted the disaster on myself lol

I love working with colorflow .. I think it's great .. I will say that my sister did a colorflow of Cinderella .. it came out really well .. it was very large too .. when she went to put it on her cake, her cake had some rounding on top and it wouldn't lay flat at all .. so I talked her into bordering around the colorflow to cover the gaps .. it didn't look too bad and the lady who's granddaughter it was for, loved it ..

also, colorflow can break really easily, especially in areas that are small or narrow .. so I guess a person really needs to weigh up the differences and decide what's easier to them to do .. myself, I like the both

When it is done, please PM me with the instructions. I am making my daughter a castle cake for her 3rd birthday. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to make the windows of her castle out of a bc transfer, color flow, or I have even thought about doing it out of rock candy. But if your color flow works for Goliath it should work for the windows even though I guess I need to wait till right before the party to put it on. Sorry for my novel...lol. If anyone has any suggestions for the windows let me know.

Mitzynva--Golith is just going to be propped up next to the "big top" which will be her smash cake. For windows that need to actually stick to a vertical surface, I'm not sure. If they're relatively small they might stick good. Like you said, though, put them on right before the party so they don't melt. Maybe someone else can advise for the FBCT on a vertical surface???

Here's what I have done in the past when I need "glass" on a cake. If you don't want to make it, buy some refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Pillsbury works great. Also, get some pineapple flavored Lifesavers. Ok pinch off about a 1" round ball of dough and roll it out into a thin strip (not too thin) then form it in the shape of your window.

Next, crumble up the lifesavers as much as possible (I use a ziploc bag and a hammer) then pour the crumbs into the center of your window - make sure it's really full of crumbs and don't let any crumbs fall on top of the dough or outside of it. Pop this into the oven at about 325 or 350 until the candy has completely melted. Then remove and let stand until THOROUGHLY cool. I cannot stress enough to make sure they are cool.

Then very VERY carefully using the thinnest spatula you have slide the "Windows" of the pan and you can put them directly onto the cake. Viola!

Thank you both...Misdawn that is a wonderful idea. Much better than trying to make rock candy. Thank you very much This way I can atleast have the cake asembled a little early.