How Do I Get The Design On This Cake
Decorating By Soniabean Updated 12 Jun 2008 , 9:07pm by Soniabean
To me they just look like chocolate rectangles. I bet that the cake is iced in buttercream and then the rectangles are placed around the cake. I am thinking kind of the same way this one was done.
those are flat rectangular strips of chocolate. A bit tricky if you don't work with chocolate, a lot.
You can do something similar with cut strips of chocolate fondant or even chocolate clay.
Yep! 
It's basically heated chocolate spread on acetate, etc. allowed to cool and then cut into rectangles. But that's a simple version of it. Something like a chocolate wrap but cut.... I wouldn't think it would be too hard and there are tricks to getting around tempering the chocolate although I think tempering it would work the best (it also gives it that shiny appearance).
Also, chocolate does melt so wouldn't want to use it on a cake displayed outside.
They are strips of melted chocolate. In one of the wilton yearbooks, there is this technique described. They have swirled the chocolate using a comb and put the pieces (triangular) on the top of the cake like standing up. This is similar one but smooth.
In case you need the information, it says to melt the chocolate and pour it on wax paper. Cut it into desired shape after cooling. For the swirl, it needs to be done before chocolate completely sets. HTH
Here's a link on how to temper chocolate and why you should....
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/155/Tempering-Chocolate
Hi, here is a video on how to temper chocolate.
http://video.about.com/candy/How-to-Temper-Chocolate.htm
And here is another picture that shows how to cut different decorations with chocolate. Like aswartzw has mentioned, you can use plain acitate to do this, even though that person is using choc transfer sheet.
http://candy.about.com/od/phototutorials/ss/sbscaketransfer_9.htm
HTH.
Thank you all for your help. I was thinking it could be individual chocolate pieces but I was hoping it was a mat since I would like to try the design on a cake I am doing but the person can't have chocolate 
and doesn't want fondant near her cake. I guess we are going to have move on to design b. You guys rock!!! 
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