In this tutorial I'm going to show you how to use parchment paper to create
elaborate cake designs like this, this, and this!
To create perfectly symmetrical patterns like zigzags wrap a strip of parchment paper around
a cake and draw a line where the two ends overlap. Don't worry about the top edge yet. Fold the paper
in half and half again until the folded paper is the width you want for each section of the
zigzag pattern. Create another fold to mark where you want the top of the zigzags to be.
Cut diagonally up from the bottom of one crease to the top of the next. Then cut in the other
direction which will create the other side of your zigzags. This is going to be your stencil.
Wrap the zigzag stencil around your cake after the cake has been in the fridge for at least an hour
so the frosting is cold and firm. After a few minutes at room temperature there will be tiny
beads of condensation on the cake which will make the parchment stick to the cake and stay in place.
Spread another colour of buttercream over the exposed cake that's showing underneath the stencil
and once all of that's covered up, scrape around the cake with a straight cake comb or frosting
smoother to flatten this buttercream. Spread more buttercream over any indents and scrape until
it's completely smooth. Then peel away the zigzag stencil to leave the zigzag pattern behind on the
cake! If there are any smudges of buttercream on the cake you can scrape them off with a toothpick
and since the frosted cake is cold that frosting - the blue on my cake - will be so firm that you
won't damage it with the pressure of the toothpick. As an optional finishing touch,
pour some sprinkles into a bowl and dip your finger into another bowl with some water in it.
Press your wet finger into the sprinkles so that they stick and then into the top of
the zigzag and the sprinkles will stick to the soft sticky buttercream instead of your finger.
Chill the cake in the fridge for about an hour to set the zigzag buttercream and then you can
wipe the smudges off the cake board with a paper towel wrapped around your finger,
brushing right up against the cake without damaging the cold set frosting. Ta-daa! Another
fun cake design to create with parchment paper is a dotted pattern. Just like the previous pattern,
wrap a piece of parchment paper around the cake to measure it and then fold it in half and
half again as many times as you like in both directions to form a grid pattern. The vertical
creases will meet the horizontal creases and form points or I'll call them joins in this tutorial.
Wrap the parchment around the cake and push a pin or toothpick through one of the joins
to hold it in place then continue to poke a pin or toothpick through every other join,
pushing through the parchment and into the frosting on the cake underneath.
When you peel the parchment paper off you'll have an even grid of dots that covers the cake.
Now use a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip to squeeze little dots of buttercream
onto each of the holes you poked to create a dainty, subtle pattern that complements any other
decorations without distracting from them! As well as patterns you can use parchment paper to create
designs like this bunny rabbit and I'll show you a much more detailed character in a moment.
Draw or trace the outline of your shape, cut it out, wrap the parchment around the cake and
spread buttercream over it. Scrape off the excess with an offset spatula or cake comb
leaving a thin, smooth layer of buttercream over the parchment stencil and then peel the parchment
off to leave the silhouette behind. To add some colour and texture you can pipe added details
like these flowers. To add much more detail for character cakes use parchment paper to trace an
image but only outline one colour at a time. For this platypus I'm starting with the turquoise body
and then using different pieces of parchment to outline the feet,
tail and beak which are all this orange colour and then the hat and finally the eyes.
When you lay the parchment pieces over each other you should see the outlines of all of the details
of the image. Cut out all of the details to make stencils, which you'll use for each colour
separately. Tint each colour of frosting and I'm using gel colours with my 4 Minute Buttercream,
starting with the background colour, the largest block of colour. Spread the buttercream over
the stencil to cover the shape you cut out and then smooth it with a cake comb.
Peel the parchment away from the cake and use a toothpick to touch up any smudges of
buttercream around the edges of the shape. Put the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes
or the fridge for 30 minutes and then line up another parchment stencil on the cake.
Chilling the cake sets the first stencil details so that this next stencil doesn't damage them.
Use your toothpick for any touch-ups and for texture like the waffle grid on the tail you can
use your toothpick or the edge of your offset spatula to score into the buttercream now,
while it's still soft. Continue with the rest of your stencils and coloured buttercream to add all
of the details to your character, chilling between each stencil. For tiny details you might choose to
use a piping tip instead of a stencil like tiny eyeballs which I'm poking with my toothpick to
expose tiny white dots in the centers. You can also use a toothpick or offset spatula for thin
lines like the mouth and the brim of this hat and the band around the hat could be done with
a stencil or you can pipe it and then flatten the buttercream with an offset spatula. And there it
is! A detailed character made with homemade parchment paper stencils! To wrap a cake in
chocolate, cut parchment to wrap around the cake and you can scrunch it up if you want to add extra
texture. Melt chocolate chips - white chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, whatever you
like - and then pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Spread it around with an offset
spatula or the back of a spoon, going right up to the edges to completely cover the parchment.
Slide your hands underneath the parchment straight away before the chocolate sets and lift it up and
wrap it around your cake. It's easiest if the cake has been in the fridge so it's cold and firm and
less wobbly than when it's at room temperature. Put the cake wrapped in parchment into the fridge
for an hour or the freezer for 20 minutes and then peel the parchment off to leave the chocolate wrap
behind. If you cut your parchment a little bit taller than the cake you'll have a wall to hold in
any decorations like these glittery chocolate malt balls. So pretty! I hope you've seen some ways
you can save money on expensive cake decorating tools by using parchment paper instead. Check out
my cake school for online courses on hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs and
join my ClubPLUS for access to every MasterCourse, MiniCourse and Live Workshop. Thanks for watching!