I will be painting a leopard cake for the first time... any helpful tips would be appreciated. I have several samples of good prints. Do you paint a background first before the spots??? etc

I'm not an expert but I did this cake:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1444502

I colored my fondant the color I wanted for the background. I think painting the background color might be difficult. I don't have any tips. I just made my spots sort of random. Looking at a photo of real leopard spots was a big help for me.

I've practiced painting leopard print on fondant and I found it was easiest to first tint the fondant the background color, cover the cake with that, and then paint. It helps to NOT try to make the spots perfect or uniform. I think I first painted the brown spots, and then went back and painted the black outline. hth

Thanks for the tips. I have been decorating cakes for 15 years and I never do a practice cake. I just do it when it's time to do, and so far every cake has worked out. Luck maybe...

I did a leopard print recently using powdered colours brushed over the whole cake for a base colour, the uneveness helped to add to the realness of it IMO. I then painted the spots on with colours mixed with alcohol. Easier than I thought it would be.

only help i can add here is maybe use celery to mark where you want them.. its the perfect shape.. i used to be a hairstylist and to make leopard in hair i used celery... good luck

I have a babyshower leopard theme cake this Saturday. Perfect timing.

Hello Iheartcupcakes, Thank you for the celery tip....will try it tomorrow as practice! Thanks Carole