What is the best way for putting lettering on cakes.  I tried the fmm script tappit cutters.

It took me ages trying to get one letter from them and my icing skills are useless. I keep seeing cakes with beautiful lettering on them and wonder what they are using.

I want to make cakes to sell but I am sure customers would expect some personalised wording on their cakes.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you.

AI'm in the same boat as you!! I think piping words is probably my weakest skill!! I try to avoid it all cost

Piping skills take time to develop, and you really need to practice.  Boring I know but its an important skill.

I hate the tappit cutters, tapping never seems to get the icing out and they stretch out of shape.  There are plent of alphabet cutters around, many are standard but some funky style lettering.

But most importantly - practice your piping!!

AI don't like the script Tappits, I think the font looks kind of tacky, the block ones are much nicer. I haven't had any trouble using them, but I'm not afraid to bash them on the side of the table!

For piping its just a matter of practice. If I have some leftover frosting or royal icing I just pipe on a plate over and over again. When I have to pipe on a cake I draw it out first on a piece of paper the same size as the area I will be piping in, centering it and making sure it fits. Then I have a guideline to go by when I start on the actual cake. I've even typed up my lettering in Word and tried out different fonts in there for ideas, you could also print that out and try piping over it on some parchment or wax paper.

What are Tappits and are they difficult to use?

Yes, writing on the cake is sometimes nerve wracking, it can either make or break it.  Practice makes perfect!  Sometimes when I have leftover buttercream in a pastry bag from a cake project , I would just change the tip to a small round #2 or #3 and take a cake pan and just pipe away.  I like to use the pan so I can practice lettering on the sides of the cake as well.  Then I just scrape of the icing away or put it back in the bag and start over again. 

As for tappits, it was very frustrating the very first time I used it.  I had good results with using just gum paste and like other have mentioned, letting it sit out a bit to dry before cutting.  Then I would use the tip of my exacto knife to try and pry it out.  Hope this works out for you! 

I find it's easier to watch others while learning to write. I made a video—see below!

Love using my tappits!!  I had a hard time using them at first, but after I read up some good points which have been said above, they come out perfect now :)  so i definitely second what has been said above, if you do that you will find them really easy to do!:)
 

Roll your fondant thin and WALK AWAY from it.  Let it sit for a good 30 minutes.  If you are using something like FondX or Duff's it will be more difficult, as those don't really dry.  I always mix the FondX with Wilton and it works fine.  What I do is after the fondant dries, I press in the Tappit and kind of scrub it against the counter until it's cut from the rest of the fondant.  Then I just tap it really hard against the counter until it comes flying out.  Sometimes I have to do it more than once because it flies onto the floor, LOL.  If it doesn't come out on its own, I use a toothpick to gently pluck it out of the mold.

AHahaha! I normally find mine eventually on the floor ..... But how they got there I don't know cos I don't aim the tappit to the floor it near the floor lol!!

But I'm certainly glad I'm not the only one LOL!! Yay!! Hehe

AI was utterly perplexed one tappit time: 'tap tap'..... 'Tap tap'...... Hmmmm....... 'Whack!!!'...... 'Search search search, walk round the room looking on the floor, behind everything, under everything'....... The next day i found it stuck under my shoe! I musta stepped back onto it as i began searching the room!

....i wonder if there are any ironic ones; has anyone accidentally P'd in the dish water or had a B land in the flour???

I have had them fly all over the place.  I actually roll out more fondant just in case I lose most of them to the great unknown.  Sometimes I hear an occasional snort and that's one of my Bostons who came in and inhaled any rogue letters off the floor.

Oh yeah, they should call them whack-its, because I can never get them out with a tap.

I have tried piping but have ruined cakes in the process.  I think because I haven't picked it up straight away, gave it up as a bad job.  Tappits now going in the bin.

I roll out my fondant; place plastic wrap over the strip of fondant & then press hard enough to cut through the fondant.  Plastic wrap keeps it from sticking in the cutter & warping out of shape.

No need to throw your tappits away.

With tappits, I've found using gum paste far, far, far, far, far better than fondant.

Roll it thin. No, thinner than that.  Can you get it even slightly thinner?  Yes, good, that's about right!   Now leave it for a few minutes to go 'leathery'.

I don't whack mine...  I use a a very fine scriber - almost like a large needle - http://www.cakedecoration.co.uk/product.php?id_product=1878  to carefully pic them out. 

However, what people always love is when I pipe the inscription.  I usually use a 1.5 tip to pipe it and I use royal icing.

http://cakecentral.com/g/u/20877/Relznik/sort/album_create_time/photosets/1/page/20/

It certainly gives you more flexibility if you can pipe, because you can do it to the size you need.

When I have large spaces to fill, that's when I tend to use the tappits.  Otherwise, I pipe!!
 

Clikstix are what I use instead of tappits. With straight gumpaste.Way easier.
I was looking at a tute on writing/piping and what was suggested was to print out your message from the p.c using the font of your choice and practice getting your piping to look like the message. I think it was a ********* tute.

I'm really bad at piping lettering too so I just bought some tappits off amazon.

I find it useful to put the fondant filled mold in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes. Just long enough for it to stiffen up a bit and hold the shape of the letter or figure I want to get out .

I have just bought some clikstix letter cutters.  Rolled out some thin fondant dusted slightly with cornflour.  They cut like tappits but they push out the letters.  I bought the groovy ones which looked great.  The customer was so impressed and I was so relieved they worked!  They weren't very expensive and I also bought the numbers as well.  I think they are a great investment.  I made the letters ahead to take the worry out of it. I'm all for the easy option.  

A

Hi mummybear, I have a few of the Tappits and was thinking of getting the Clikstix (I was eyeing the Groovy ones :)).. Would you say they are easier to use than the Tappits? Took me awhile to get used to the Tappits, with a lot of frustrating attempts along the way.