Cake Stencils

There are many options you could choose when it comes to stencilling on cakes (and cookies!), techniques include using royal icing, brushing on dusts and airbrushing. This post should answer all of your need to know questions when it comes to stencils.

Before you begin stencilling on to your fondant cake you will need to allow the cake to sit overnight for a crust to form on the icing, this means that you are less likely to mark or dent the icing when stencilling.

Once you have lined your stencil up onto your cake you can secure it using small pearl-headed pins, a small amount of royal icing (the same colour of your or petal base, to ensure it stays in place whilst stencilling.

Royal Icing

• Your royal icing will need to be thick enough to not run when applied to the stencil but thin and smooth enough to spread evenly across your cake. You can check out our royal icing recipe guide here.
• Using a pallet knife, place some icing at the top of the stencil and carefully spread it over the full stencil. Try to smooth the icing as much as possible at this point to give a really clean finish and make sure the icing has spread into all of the gaps of the stencil.
• Begin at one corner of your stencil and carefully lift it away from the cake (if you have any pins securing it remove these first), you can then wipe any excess icing from your stencil and repeat if needed elsewhere on the cake.

Dusting with Stencils

• A good paintbrush is important when dusting with stencils – using a thick, dense brush will cause an uneven pattern, therefore we recommend using a large, loose brush. It’s better to apply a few thin, even layers than it is to apply large amounts of dust in one go.
• Tip some of your dust out onto your pallet and dab your paint brush into this, before dusting on to your cake tap the edge of your brush against the pallet to shake off any excess dust.
• Lightly brush the dust across the stencil area, you can do this in linear or circular motions, whichever you feel most comfortable with.
• Having applied a first thin layer, you can then continue applying the dust until you are satisfied with the colour you have built up, carefully remove your stencil and repeat if necessary.
• If you’d like the colour to develop further, you can then carefully steam the stencilled area making sure the steam is even and do not to overheat the fondant.

Airbrushing

• If you’re a novice to airbrushing it’s a wonderful technique which you can use to create fantastic detail within cakes – we often run airbrushing demonstrations so please check our courses page for more information!
• It’s important to make sure the stencil is secured flat to your cake either by holding it flat or securing using the methods mentioned above, as the pressure from the airbrush can move a stencil which is not secure.
• If your stencil is quite small you can use parchment paper to ensure rest of your cake is not sprayed by the airbrush, this paper can be secured in the same way as a stencil.
• Hold the airbrush a minimum of 15cm away from your cake to apply an even coat.
• It’s important to create your pattern using lots of thin layers, as one thick coat can cause an uneven finish.
• Once complete carefully lift away your stencil and repeat if needed.