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Writing 'Happy Birthday' on a cake sounds simple until you try it. If your letters come out uneven,
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shaky, or just not how you imagined, this tutorial should help you. I'll show you 10 techniques and
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tips to help you write neatly on cakes, from simple tricks to make piping easier to methods
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that don't even require piping at all. I think the easiest writing is to print with lines.
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Start with the letter that's in the middle of your cake and work your way out to make sure that each
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word is centered on the cake. I'm using a number eight round piping tip by Wilton for this 8 inch
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cake but for a smaller cake, I would use a smaller tip so that the letters don't look
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crammed onto the cake. Generally, the larger the hole is in your piping tip, the easier it is to
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write neatly because the large width of the lines will absorb any little jerky motions of your wrist
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a lot better than when the piping tip is really small. Let's try another font: printing with dots
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at the beginning and end of each line. This is a number four piping tip, which is slightly smaller,
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and using dots makes it easier to start and finish each line neatly. Notice that with the smaller
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piping tip, the lines show every tiny movement of my very shaky wrists. So you have to have much
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steadier hands than mine to pipe neat, straight lines. My biggest tip for writing 'Happy Birthday'
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on a cake is to chill the cake first before you add the message so that if you make a mistake,
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you can scrape it off with a toothpick or a knife or your offset spatula or palette knife
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and then pipe that part again. Since the cake has been chilled, the frosting is cold and firm and
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you won't damage it as you scrape. Maybe the most important thing to mention is that the consistency
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of your buttercream has to be just right for any piping, but especially writing letters.
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If the buttercream is too stiff, the lines will break apart as you pipe. And if it's too runny,
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the buttercream will run out of the piping bag without you squeezing it, and you'll make a big
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mess. If you're new to writing 'Happy Birthday' on cakes, start with the cake pan you baked your cake
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in for practice, to check the size and spacing of your letters and to get used to the consistency of
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your buttercream, which is a little bit different every time you make it depending on temperature,
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humidity, and the quantities of your ingredients. Then use a toothpick to score the letters onto
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your cake to check the sizing and spacing of your letters. This technique is called pointillism,
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where you pipe lots of little dots in the shape of your letter or number. Just like with lines,
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with a number eight tip, it's easier to pipe neatly than with a smaller number four tip.
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Use this trick if your hands are shaky and it's easier to pipe while resting on something:
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pipe your word onto parchment or wax paper, a few times if you don't like the first attempt
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or first few attempts, and then lift the paper up and freeze for 10 minutes. Slide an offset spatula
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underneath your favourite version, lift it up and slide it off onto your cake. Let's undo this to
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compare my writing when I pipe straight onto the cake without being able to rest my hand on
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anything. And of course, it's not as neat. And if you really struggle with your handwriting,
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try this. Trace your message in a font that you like. Flip the paper over and trace from the back
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so that you have the mirror image of your message. Place a piece of parchment or wax paper on top of
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this and then trace it with buttercream, piping it using a small round piping tip like a number four.
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It's a bit awkward to write it in reverse, but having something to trace makes it much,
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much easier. Lift this up, flip it over, and press it buttercream side down onto your cake,
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pressing very gently to attach it to the cake. Then put the cake into the freezer for 10 minutes
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before you peel off the parchment or wax paper to reveal your beautiful message underneath.
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Skipping piping completely, use letter sets like these sweet stamp letters to imprint your message
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into your cake. For buttercream cakes, it's best to put them into the fridge to chill the frosting
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completely and then take them out and let them sit at room temperature for about an hour so that the
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buttercream softens slightly before you use the letters. Otherwise, the buttercream can crack.
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Arrange your letters on the cake and then push gently on all sides of the letter to imprint the
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whole thing. Lift the letters off and then paint into the imprints using edible paints or here I've
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mixed edible gold luster dust with a few drops of vodka. Or you could use any clear flavor extract
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like lemon or clear vanilla or almond. I hope this has been helpful. If you're not ready to
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practice any of these techniques yet, save this video for later and use a cake topper instead.
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Tell me in the comments which technique you're going to try first or which one surprised you
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the most. And if you want to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques and designs,
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visit my cake school on www.britishgirlbakes.com. See you there. Thanks for watching!
