Helpful tips before using a mesh stencil on:

FONDANT CAKES

Some equipment that you will need to stencil on a fondant cake include:

• Fondant cakes are easier to stencil if the fondant has been allowed to set hard.

• Royal icing is the best medium for fondant cakes as it dries in little time, allowing for quick application of consecutive panels.

• The consistency of the royal icing can be anywhere between a honey like viscosity to a smooth peanut butter viscosity and will also depend on how it has been coloured.

• It is strongly advised to test your icing and stencil on a rolled-out piece of fondant to check it is the best consistency to showcase all the fine lines and to not bleed through.

• Pre-mix royal icing is great to use as you can play around with the consistency easily by either adding more powder or more water until you have reached the desired consistency.

• Be sure to allow each panel to dry thoroughly before securing your stencil to complete the next panel.

• If you are using a colour other than black to stencil, it is recommended that you tint your royal icing with a white colouring first. This will create a nice solid base colour. Royal icing is naturally transparent so adding white will make it opaque and result in a more vibrant result.

• If you do not wish to have the border space on your tier, simply raise your cake onto something smaller in circumference.

• If you do make a mistake and wish to remove the stencil design, you can use some vodka or cake decorating alcohol such as rose spirit on a clean cloth and wipe it away. It is advised you allow the moisture on the fondant to dry before reapplying.

• If you remove your stencil and realise part of the design is missing simply wait until the stencilled part is fully dry, line up your stencil and apply a small amount of your royal icing over the part that needs correcting.

• If you only want to stencil a partial area of the stencil design you can use the masking tape to mask off the areas you don’t want to stencil.

• If you are stencilling onto a coloured cake with the same colour icing it is a good idea to tint your icing a few shades darker so you can see the stained design.

• Wash your stencil with warm soapy water, pat dry and leave to fully dry before using again. A great way of speeding up this process is to use the fan on your over…but please make sure the heat is off!

BUTTERCREAM CAKES

Some equipment that you will need to stencil on a buttercream cake include:

1. Offset spatula or flexible silicone spatula
2. Buttercream
3. Super chilled cake
4. Scraper (optional)

• Before you start to stencil onto your cake it is a great idea to spread some of your buttercream onto a board and chill in the freezer until it is set. Test your stencil onto this buttercream to check if your buttercream is thin enough and has enough colour in it.
  
• To achieve a clear stencilled area on buttercream be sure to pop your cake into the fridge or freezer if you can until your cake is well chilled and hard to touch. It is really important to re-chill your cake between applications and to try and minimise the amount of time you handle the cake.

• Royal icing is another option to use when stencilling on buttercream cakes and works better on some types of buttercreams than others. It is a great medium as it dries almost instantly making panelling less stressful.

• Your stencil should be fine to secure itself to a chilled cake meaning no need to hold it in place.

• Use a spatula to spread the buttercream across your stencil and apply enough pressure to push the buttercream through the mesh to ensure it stains the design effectively.

• If you are stencilling onto a coloured cake with the same colour icing it is a good idea to tint your icing a few shades darker so you can see the stained design.

• To avoid the stencil moving during application of buttercream, start in the centre of the design and spread the buttercream outward to all sides.

• If you only want to stencil a partial area of the stencil design, you can use the masking tape to mask off the areas you don’t want to stencil.

• If you do not wish to have the border space on your tier, simply raise your cake onto something smaller in circumference.

• Be sure to allow each panel to dry thoroughly before securing your stencil to complete the next panel.

• Wash your stencil with warm soapy water, pat dry and leave to fully dry before using again. A great way of speeding up this process is to use the fan on your oven…but please make sure the heat is off!