Ok, so I am not the best at drawing.  I can copy a lot,  but I am not great at drawing stuff without an image to go off of.   I used to work with a girl that was so talented, she would put one hand on her hip and hold her piping bag in her other hand, and draw anything on a cake you could think of.  She was amazing.   I, however, lack that gene.  So when I need an image to look really accurate, I do a transfer.  This is a process where you outline a copy of the image you want on your cake.  Lemme show you how…

First, make a copy of your desired image.  Then you cover it in a piece of parchment or wax paper.  I then tape them both to a cake board.

Then, outline the image.  Make sure your point is very fine so it doesn’t look sloppy

After outlining, you can fill in the colors.  Try to leave no spaces in between colors and lines so it looks completely filled in.

Now that your picture is complete, pipe whatever color the cake is iced in along the entire surface.  This cake was iced in white.

Next, take a small spatula and gently smooth this layer to be thin and smooth.  This accomplishes two things.   One, it helps to smooth the colors of your image.  Secondly,  it reinforces the strength of your transfer so it will be easier to place on your cake.

Now that it is smooth, place the image in your freezer.  It usually takes about ten minutes to get solid enough to apply.  It should feel firm to the touch.  Your cake should be iced and smoothed to be ready for your transfer.  When both the cake and transfer are ready, gently peel the parchment from the back of your transfer.  Gently lay it on your cake.

There will be some lines here and there from piping the design.  Using a small, pointed tip spatula, gently smooth the lines.  Don’t over do it!  I am guilty of this.  I will smooth and smooth and smooth until I have altered the image.  Accept the imperfections and know that it probably looks better than your self scrutinizing eyes will show.

Now you can add any additional touches to complete the image.  This one needed some touches on the frog.

Voila!  A butter cream transfer.  It’s a little time consuming and tedious, but it just looks so darned good when it’s done!  To save your sanity, try a couple first before you actually need one for a cake.  If your practice runs turn out well, save them in your freezer for future cakes!