I'm making a cake that I need to write 'Happy Birthday' on. After writing Happy, I realized I didn't have enough room for Birthday. So I tried to pull up the Happy (it's a cream-cheese crusting icing) and made a big mess of it. Any suggestions on how to fix it?
I have found that the best way is to let the icing set and then carefully lift it up with a toothpick or something small and easy to control.
More experienced folks may have better ideas.
Christy
If it's beyond repair, maybe you can re-pipe "Happy" back exactly where it was and add "Birthday" on a second line.
In the future, if you chill your cake temporarily, it's easier to remove the writing with a toothpick. This would also help if "Birthday" doesn't fit on a second line and you want to remove more of the smeared "Happy" writing. HTH.
When writing try not to drag your tip along the icing as you pipe. You actually want to be just right above so that the piped line just lays on the icing. If you mess up you can usually lift it with a tooth pick.
When I do have an issue I'll use a toothpick to clean up as much of the colored icing as possible. Sometime you may have to put a little fresh icing down, it just depends.
If, after taking the advice offered here, you still can't get that area clean, you can try one of these tricks:
With a large round tip (3 or 4), using the cream cheese icing, pipe the message in fat letters over the damaged area. Use your small tip and colored icing to pipe the message on top of the fat letters. It's a really cool effect that gives extra dimension to your message. Practice off the cake first.
Make a chocolate transfer ribbon or plaque by piping chocolate onto a piece of wax paper, chill for 5 minutes, then turn it over so the smooth side is up. You can then pipe your message on the ribbon or plaque and place it on the cake.
Make a ribbon or plaque with a piece of fondant. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes or so to firm up. Then, pipe your message and place it on the cake.
If, after taking the advice offered here, you still can't get that area clean, you can try one of these tricks:
With a large round tip (3 or 4), using the cream cheese icing, pipe the message in fat letters over the damaged area. Use your small tip and colored icing to pipe the message on top of the fat letters. It's a really cool effect that gives extra dimension to your message. Practice off the cake first.
Make a chocolate transfer ribbon or plaque by piping chocolate onto a piece of wax paper, chill for 5 minutes, then turn it over so the smooth side is up. You can then pipe your message on the ribbon or plaque and place it on the cake.
Make a ribbon or plaque with a piece of fondant. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes or so to firm up. Then, pipe your message and place it on the cake.
Good ideas 
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