We are so excited to share this new technique with you all! It is such a fun way to create a unique and one of a kind cake.
So what is a Buttercream Wrapped Cake?
Think of it as creating your own wallpaper for your cake! A buttercream design is pipped onto a piece of parchment or acetate and then applied to the cake by wrapping it around the cake. This technique is also referred to as Buttercream Transfer. Below we will give you a step by step on how to create your own buttercream wrapped cake.
What You Need
- Parchment paper or acetate
- Piping bags
- Fondant smoother, if you have one
- Ruler and scissors
- One crumb coated cake
- One batch buttercream
- Food gel coloring (in the colors of your design)
Step 1: Find a Design
Decide on a design. For our cake we used a floral blanket as the inspiration. We then drew a similar design on white paper so we could make sure we liked the pattern and then used that as a template to trace. You can free hand your design and create it as you go or you can do what we did and find a design you like and trace it. Creating a marbled look is very popular with this technique as well.
Step 2: Prepare Your Cake
Stack and crumb coat your cake as you would normally do. For the best results we recommend having somewhat smooth and level sides to your cake. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but avoid any large gaps between the layers. Once your cake is crumb coated chill the cake in the fridge while you prep for the next step.
Step 3: Measure Your Parchment/Acetate
Measure the distance around your cake plus the height of the cake. Our cake measured 20 inches around and just shy of 7 inches tall. When measuring your parchment/acetate to cut, you will want to measure one inch longer than what your cake measured around. For our cake we cut a large strip that was 21 inches long and 7 inches high.
Step 4: Prep Your Workspace
Cover your workspace with parchment paper as this can get a little messy. We taped the parchment down so it stayed in place as we were working. If you are tracing a design you will next lay your deign down and then lay the precut piece of parchment/acetate on top of the design. We added some tabs to the sides of our parchment so it would be easier when we picked it up to wrap around the cake. This was very helpful! Fill your piping bags with buttercream. For our design we used three different shades of pink, green, a little yellow and white for the background. No need to use a piping tip, just cut the tip of the bag off to create a small hole.
Step 5: Create Your Design
Now the fun part! Since our design was a floral pattern we started by piping the inside of the flowers first then worked our way out. We simply traced our design we created with the different colors of buttercream. When pipping your design make sure the thickness/height of your buttercream in consistent throughout. At this point do not add any of the background color (for us it was white). After we piped on all the flowers we then transferred the decorated parchment to the fridge to chill. Make sure it stays flat!!! We carefully slid a large cutting board underneath. Allow the design to chill for about 15-20 minutes.
Step 6: Apply the Base Coat
Carefully transfer the decorated parchment/acetate back to your workspace. The reason you want to chill the design, is because you don’t want to smear your beautiful work when you apply the background color. With a small offset spatula, cover the entire sheet of parchment/acetate with your base color of buttercream. As you do this you will fill in any open spaces in your design. Make sure to go all the way to the ends of the precut piece of parchment/acetate you measured for your cake. Your goal is to get the buttercream as smooth and level as possible. That way when you transfer the design to the cake you will create smooth and even sides on your cake.
Step 7: Wrap Your Cake
Now it’s time to wrap your cake! If you have a fondant smoother or similar tool it is very helpful for this next step. Remove your chilled cake from the fridge and place it as close to the decorated parchment/acetate as you can. Carefully lift up and wrap the parchment around the cake. Using your fondant smoother, gently press and smooth the design around the cake. If your design overlaps on the back you can try and carefully trim off the excess with scissors. Once you have your buttercream design fully adhered to the cake and have smoothed out all areas of the cake, place the cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Step 8: Final Touches
After the 15 minutes is up remove the cake from the freezer and gently peel the parchment/acetate off. Use a small sharp knife to trim any excess that is sticking up over the top of the cake. Frost the top of the cake and decorate the top as you wish. We created a rope border using the three shade of pink we used for the flowers.
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. As always, we would love to see your creations! Comment below and tag us on Instagram or Facebook. Happy baking!
