Creating the perfect photocake is not as daunting as it may seem.

If you’ve been following our recent blog posts and social media updates, you’ll have seen how an otherwise ordinary cake has been transformed into an amazing photocake using edible images.

Edible images are so easy to create and print and there are many interesting ways to use them.

So whether you’ve never made a photocake before or a long standing fan, here’s our 3 step guide to using edible images, including a few hints and tips along the way.

Photocake

 Creating the perfect design

Once you’ve chosen the image you want to use, first off make sure that it’s high resolution, that way it won’t be out of focus when printed. If it’s a photo that you’re using, ensure it’s cropped to get rid of any unnecessary background. If you’re using Topperoo for this, just press the crop button (crop-icon). You can also select a range of pre-made designs from the ‘saved designs’ tab.

Topperoo design Screenshot

Printing

When you’re completely happy with the design, it’s time to print. We generally advise printing on icing sheets rather than wafer or rice paper (If you want to know more about that, read the blog we wrote about that last year).

No printer? No problem. Just take into a local bakery or get your images printed and dispatched by a online printing business like CakeMyFace.

Application

This is nerve wracking stage where things could go wrong if you don’t treat the images correctly. Fortunately there is a tried and tested way to ensure application is easy and effortless.

  1. Prior to use, place it in the freezer for up to 1 minute. This allows the icing to dry out making it easy to apply.
  2. Carefully and quickly peel the backing from the image.
  3. If applying to a fondant iced cake, you’ll need to wet the cake slightly to allow it to stick. Go careful though as if it’s too wet the colours may bleed.
  4. If you’re applying directly to buttercream, you don’t need to add water unless the buttercream has dried out and formed a crust. In this case, simply spray with a little water.
  5. It’s advisable to add edible images at the last minute too minimise colour bleed.

This video tutorial gives a quick tutorial on adding edible images to your photocake:

We hope that you have great fun producing edible images and enjoy coming up with unusual and creative ideas. And remember to send us photos of your finished photocake. We love to see what you’ve been doing and sharing with our Topperoo community on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.