I went to a 40th birthday party. The host ordered the cake from a friend of hers. It was beautiful but I didnt look like my cakes for some reason. When we cut it I found that what looked like fondant was some paper thin substance. It didnt have muc stretch to it and it wasnt sweet. Whoever made it must have run it through a printer cause the zebra stripes were printed on it. Does anyone know what this might have been? I havent worked with sugarveil but I didnt think it came in sheets or that you could print on it.

I think Wilton has sugar sheets, as well as Duff. I could be wrong though. Did it cover the entire cake? Or was it just around the sides? I have never worked with the sheets before.

It covered the entire cake. The bow on top and borders were all made with it too. I tried attaching a photo of it but im getting an error about pixels or something.

Probably the pre-printed Wilton or Luck's sugar sheets.

You can find them at Wilton.com

Rae

Or wafer paper.

Or wafer paper. Or edible rice paper. Both are very like paper, rather than icing.

Wafer paper and rice paper are one and the same thing.
The newest form is what is being sold as 'sugar sheets'.
Most of them come pre-printed with many different patterns.

The way it was explained to me by a cake expert was that edible rice paper is made of rice flour. Wafer paper is often made from potato starch. But essentially they act alike.

Scroll down to see the zebra pattern:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=2BF989DE-1E0B-C910-EAB34EC9F85E9048&fid=2BF989FD-1E0B-C910-EAFE90F09724825D

Zebra cake using Wilton sheets:
http://www.wilton.com/idea/Zesty-Zebra-Cake

Sugar sheet bow instructions:
http://www.wilton.com/technique/Cake-Top-Bow-with-Sugar-Sheets

Rae

Was it smoothed over the cake (top and sides) or were the top and sides possibly applied separately (as evidenced by a very crisp corner with a seam showing or a border covering said seam)? It's probably the edible imaging sheets, I have used them like that before with intricate patterns. It's great! The only thing I don't like is the size limitation of each piece, so I try to sell the customers on square cakes.

I got a chance to take a look and I know exactly what it was now...the preprinted sugar sheets. I must be honest, it tasted awful and I would never use them on a cake. Perhaps as a accent on fondant or something but not to cover the entire cake with. Thanks for all your input. It was a new one on me.