Tutorials

Monogram Mother's Day cake tutorial:

Demonstrated on Good Things Utah


Mother’s Day Monogram Cake

Items Needed:
Cake
Frosting
Edible paper in the colors you prefer. These can be purchased for around $3.00 at any craft store or Walmart (see tips for amount)
Ruler
Water and paint brush or squirt bottle
Scissors or X-Acto knife
Monogram template, printed and cut out
Paper punch or Cricut punches (if you want to do a punch pattern on your cake)

Basic Instructions:
Bake your favorite cake. It can be any size you'd like. If you want a taller cake, you will need to bake 4-6 layers and stack them with frosting between each layer. Once your cake is cool and stacked, frost the whole thing with white frosting (or any color you prefer). Smooth the frosting as smooth as you can, but it doesn’t have to be perfect! :). Put your cake in the fridge to chill a bit. You don’t want the frosting to be so soft that it’s too difficult to work with. (It will make a mess when pressing the edible paper onto the cake.)

Instructions for Striped Cake:
Measure the height and circumference of your cake. You’ll need to know how thick to make each stripe so the pattern will come out even and how long your stripes need to be to fit all the way around the cake. Since the paper is only 11” long, you will need more than one 11” strip to make it all the way around your cake. Then make small notches with a knife or a toothpick in the frosting where each stipe will be placed. A good tip is to make these notches all the way around the cake to help you keep your stripe straight as you are placing it on the cake. The first stripe is placed at the base of the cake making it easy to keep that stripe straight. But for the next stripe, making notches every couple of inches or so all around the cake where the bottom of that next stripe will be placed will help keep everything straight and even.

Next, you need to moisten your cake because the paper needs moisture to stick to the cake. You don’t want too much water or the color in the paper can bleed. However, if you don’t have enough, the paper won’t stick well. You can use a paintbrush dipped in water and brush the water where your stripe will be placed.

Using your ruler to keep a straight edge, cut a stripe out of the edible paper. You could also score the paper with the knife or other object such as a toothpick and then cut it with scissors. Peel it away from the shiny backing. Using the bottom of the cake as a guide to keep the stripe straight, gently press the paper onto the cake making sure to keep it from bunching. Smooth it against the fondant so it adheres completely. Take extra care with the end of the stripe on both sides because that is where the stripe will want to lift up a bit. Then cut another stripe out to finish the base. Continue this until the pattern is finished.

Instructions for Hole Punch Cake:
Punch out shapes the same way you would with regular paper. You can treat this edible paper very similar to regular paper in most every way except folding. If you fold this paper, it will break off at the fold. It also will dry out and crack if left out too long, making it impossible to work with. Keep it sealed tightly! Moisten your cake and place the punched out shapes on your cake.

Instructions for Monogram Cake:
Print out an alphabet font you’d like to use for your monogram. The size of the letters should coordinate with the size of your cake. You can find free fonts online or use fonts already on your computer. Cut out the letter(s) and use them as a pattern. Place your template on the edible paper and cut out the letter using your X-Acto knife. Or, you can score around the pattern with a knife or toothpick and then use scissors to cut it out. (I used the gold and pink edible paper for my monograms.) Once it’s cut out, place a little water directly onto the edible paper letter and place onto your cake. Don't use too much water or the color in the paper will bleed.

To make a flower:
Cut out flower shapes of varying sizes. I cut my flowers free hand but if you have any flower cookie cutters you could use those as a pattern. Or, you could find a clip art flower online and print it out to use as a pattern. I used three layers for my flowers and attached them together using a little water. I used some edible pearls for the centers of my flowers but that is optional. You can use water to attach the flower(s) on your cake, but since they are a bit heavy with the multiple layers, you might want to attach them with something a little stronger like a dab of frosting or even a little melted chocolate.

Tips: 
·      The amount of edible paper you'll need to get will vary depending on your cake size. The cake I have displayed is 7” around and about 6 ½” tall and I needed one and a half sheets of black edible paper. 
·      This paper will dry out if it isn't sealed tightly in the package or in a Ziplock bag. It also dries out after about a year even if it is sealed tightly. If the paper cracks when cutting, rips easily or breaks when using a punch, it has dried out and you'll need to get a new sheet.
Chilling your cake in the fridge will make it easier to work with. If it gets too soft before you finish decorating, put it back into the fridge until it firms back up.

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