Do These Colors Look Funny?

The world of edible printing isn't as simple as normal printing. Reds often have an orange hue, greys can look green in certain lights and once you perfect your custom colors, you may even find out that even the paper you print on can create different colors all together. I am putting this information together for all edible printing professionals out there because one rotten apple can ruin the bunch and I hope those adding edible images to their custom cakes can learn a big lesson that I have learned the hard way.

I have tried many different brands of frosting paper in my years of edible printing. Some are so sweet, the minute you open the bag your senses are filled with sugar. Others, are almost tasteless and thin. I used ONE paper and stuck with it, I found that all papers have their pros and cons. And, considering my business is 90% shipping, I always have to factor in the climate and what papers can handle being shipped.

Upon ordering supply from one of my vendors, I came across a good price and shipping on one of tastiest papers in the business. Their paper is much more like candy than most others and thought not BRIGHT WHITE, it also does dry out as quickly as some. I was excited to use it again, as it had been years since I kept them in stock as the cost of shipping made it difficult to justify with so many other brands out there.

I started printing with the new papers and started noticing that "my printer" was having color issues. Everything I was printing seemed a little off. The purples more blue, my flesh colors more green and my reds more brown. It was so troubling, I purchased all new edible inks and tried to remedy it that way. I then switched to all new cartridges by a different manufacturer with still the same results. For a solid week you would have thought I had gone crazy, taking my machine apart, threatening to switch machines all together. I started pricing out an Epson Edible Printer that was going to cost me near $1,000 when all was said and done. Before placing that final order and at the end of my rope, I had an epiphany, that perhaps this was not my problem at all, that this was beyond my control but I had to test the theory.

So, I had a Walking Dead image I thought would be perfect to test my theory that this was not my printer or my problem at all.  When I went to print, I selected to print 2 and use one sheet of the new, tasty paper and one sheet of the bright white, tasteless paper that I have used for almost every project in the past year. You wouldn't believe my shock when the new tasty paper was the only paper that had the green tint. I replicated the print with regular stock paper too, no green tint. I then decided to contact the manufacturer of the paper directly and see if they could refund me or help me find out how to use their paper so that I am happy with the results.

I called them directly and explained my problem, that I can print the same image, during the same print session and on their paper and it has a green tint and on my other branded paper it looks perfect. I urged them to help me find out if this was a bad batch, as the paper tastes so good and is easy for me to get my hands on. It also is the paper used by other companies as the bar-coded edible media for their licensed print systems. All the information was taken, I emailed over photos of what was happening and waiting. The next day I received an email stating:

"We have tried to duplicate your issue here but our images are coming out just fine. With that said, please make sure that your Printing Preferences for the Canon IX6820 are set as such:
CANON:
PRINT QUALITY - "HIGH"
MEDIA TYPE - "HIGH RESOLUTION PAPER"
Thank you"

So, with that said and me sitting on a few hundred dollars of edible paper that may result in the same greening effect, I had no choice but to second-guess my doubt of their paper. It's been a few weeks now, I have two other manufacturers I go to and do not have any issues with the green tint unless I try to use up the stockpile of problematic paper. I have even open new batches, wide format, and regular size with the same effects. Being the professional I am, I won't call any company out, all products, companies and services have their pros and cons, but in this case I know a huge con that makes using this particular edible frosting sheet manufacturer unreliable for colors as you can see from the multiple examples I have made since first discovering the problem. All photos are unfiltered. That being said, I sent a follow up email with some of these samples back to the manufacturer who responded with:

“It appears that one or two colors are not being outputted. Please place in the Original Ink Tanks and do a couple of test prints onto regular paper and see if that rectifies the issue. Also, please make sure that your settings are set as such:
 EPSON:
PRINT QUALITY - "PHOTO"
PAPER OPTION - "PREMIUM PRESENTATION PAPER MATTE"
 CANON:
PRINT QUALITY - "HIGH"
MEDIA TYPE - "HIGH RESOLUTION PAPER"
Thank you"

Funny, if two of my colors are NOT being outputted, my printer is brilliant and only decides to hold back on their paper. So, I wanted to end this blog with urging you to not settle with a edible image printing problem always being your printer, the edible paper you print on can be the problem with your colors. Do research, try other products and don't give up if something just doesn't make sense.
All the prints that turned out correctly were printed on this particular paper available for sale on my website. There are many others available that I plan to test in a future blog.

Printed both of these images during same print batch. Greening effect only happened on the tasty paper!

 An order for some cupcake toppers for celebrating an 80th Birthday gave the same results again, giving a green hue to her.

 Bark Samples for some new edible bark wraps for cakes I am excited about, have a green hue instead of grey..... same print batch, bottom is the problematic paper.

  Printed both of these images during same print batch. Greening effect only happened on the tasty paper! So, looks like the edible red bandana on the left is very much different than the faded, brownish image that produced on the bottom.

 My popular Aged Music Sheets that I sell on both wafer paper and frosting paper yielding a green hue on the tasty paper.

I had to share my custom colored peacock feathers that should be green with a slight purple hue inside. Though the lighting in this photo is not the best, you can see the difference in colors as the bottom photo it's more blue than purple.

 At this point, with the manufacturer just putting it as my printers output issues. I just double print for fun. Again, I printed two in the batch and two very different images from the same exact print cycle came out.

All 'Bout That Cake, No Trouble

It's all 'bout that cake... 'bout that cake... 'bout that cake. Seriously, there is no shame in buying a cake from a grocery story and placing your image on top. I know many people feel they have to "make the cake", but if you are not comfortable with your cake baking/decorating skills, a store bought cake is easy and affordable! Also, when I get request for an ice cream cake from a client, I go to Dairy Queen for a 8" round undecorated under $20, place an edible image on top and then just pipe borders around the image on the top and bottom.

So no matter where your cake comes from, the basic rules are easy to follow to apply your edible frosting sheet.

#1 - DO NOT OPEN THE BAG YOUR EDIBLE IMAGES CAME IN UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE IT'S TIME TO APPLY THEM


This is the most important step. Frosting sheets are just that, frosting. Just like buttercream will crust after a few minutes. Now, if it's really humid and hot, you may have a different problem all together with your images being so soft that they stick to things and rip easily. This brings us to the next best practice....

#2 - DO NOT USE IN AN EXTREME CLIMATE

I have had very few mishaps with edible toppers but when I do, it's almost always because it's too humid or too hot. Summer months are notorious for high humidity and it makes the frosting circles work more like fabric as they are droppy and not stiff.  When you have high humidity in a hot climate, my advice is to turn on an air conditioner and get your temperature up in your house to below 74 degrees. You wouldn't believe how HOT a kitchen can get when your baking on a summer day. Be aware when it's storming outside or a winter system is coming through it may effect your product too!

#3 REVIVE DRY, BRITTLE TOPPERS

It happens sometimes, you go to pull out your toppers and they seem a little brittle. Maybe part of the edge is cracked or they have zero movement. Place your image back in the bag CAREFULLY and create a more humid environment to  get them flexible again. I have a steamer, but boiling water works the same. Once you have a good steam flow, take your toppers out and while they are still on their backers, fan over the steam one at a time for a few seconds. You should find that a little steam goes a long way, suddenly your edible image will be easy to work with again.

#4 - MAKE SURE YOUR HANDS ARE DRY

So, you're ready for the task of opening the bag and removing your toppers to quickly apply to your treat.... but one damp finger can ruin it all! Edible frosting sheets have the image printed on the front side, where the backside is where you want to touch. Water can distort your image, making it smear, bleed, or look like a water-colored mess. So, wash your hands really, really good.... use gloves if you have them. But, then INSPECT your hands and make sure they are dry. Have a paper towel near you so that while applying the images you can quickly wipe off any frosting that may get on your fingers / hands from handling the cake.

#5 - APPLY TO MOIST FROSTING

Frosting sheets need a moist surface to "melt" into. That beings said, make sure your frosting has not crusted before applying. Some frosting never crust up, but those bakers out there know what I mean. Frost and place fast for best results. For those placing your toppers on something other than butter cream, please see my next best practice. If you find your butter cream has crusted, spray a light mist of water and then apply your edible image topper AFTER the water droplets have adsorbed into the frosting.

#6 - MOISTEN ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO

If you plan to apply to gumpaste, fondant, chocolate or hard candy your edible image will only stick with the use of a little adhesive. I have found that the best way is to use piping gel or a small cup of warm water and a food safe paintbrush. Have the edible topper image side DOWN and brush the back with a little warm water. That being said, dip the brush in water and then tap off the excess. When you go to brush it on the back, make sure you get almost to the edge, but not all the way, as the moisture MAY make the sides bleed/distort on front of the image topper. Since the topper is made of frosting, a little water will give it just enough tack to stick.

#7 - LEVEL IT OUT


Do not use your hands or fingers, it will just look wavy and again, you will risk moisture being added. I like to use a clean and dry fondant smoother like the Wilton Fondant Smoother that cost under $3. Be careful when you level it out not to pull frosting onto the top. I press it down and then make a very small motion back and forth or in a circle to level it down flat. If you do not have a fondant smoother, any flat item will work. In a pinch I have used the bottom of a measuring cup or a flat spatula. Make sure your wipe between each topper with a paper towel to keep your smoothing device clean and dry.

Custom edible images available in 8x10 and 10x16 sizes at www.NeverForgottenDesigns.com and my Etsy shop!

Peanut Butter and Butterfly Sandwiches

Today I felt like doing something different for my two youngest children for lunch and came up with an easy way to add to their happy childhood memory banks. Peanut butter sandwiches will never be the same in the Yates' household, as I grabbed a few of my edible butterflies and placed them inside and outside to jazz it up. These mini butterflies are printed with edible inks, on edible wafer paper which is composed of potato starch. Very similar to a communion wafer, wafer paper is nearly tasteless, dissolving when wet. Normally I place these on cakepops, brownies, cakes and cupcakes to dress them up.


The kids had so much fun eating "Peanut Butter and Butterfly Sandwiches" for lunch, it had me thinking of the endless other foods that could be adorned with edible butterflies in the future. Forget sugary cereals, I think most kids just want fun and these will do the trick! Placed on yogurt with some edible glitter for a special "fairy treat". Not sure how it will go over on brussel sprouts yet, that will be for another day of kid testing!

I am currently planning my two year old's third birthday, so I am sure I will have more cool photos up in the next few weeks. After all, an enchanted evening tea party isn't the same without butterflies!

Looking for some edible butterflies for your own treats? Check them out HERE AT MY ETSY SHOP! Use code "BLOGGER" for 10% off!

Edible Wafer Paper Butterflies on a Peanut Butter Sandwich!

Your Edible Toppers Did Whaaaaaat?!?!

So, you finally gave in and bought some fun, personalized cupcake toppers for your special event and are looking to get the best looking results for that WOW FACTOR! I have been creating edible images for party planners and bakers for a few years now and think I have nailed down the best practices for applying edible images to your baked treats to help you get a professional look that you can be proud to post online!

#1 - DO NOT OPEN THE BAG YOUR EDIBLE IMAGES CAME IN UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE IT'S TIME TO APPLY THEM


This is the most important step. Frosting sheets are just that, frosting. Just like buttercream will crust after a few minutes, frosting circles will harden after just a few minutes in dry, warm air. Now, if it's really humid and hot, you may have a different problem all together with your images being so soft that they stick to things and rip easily. This brings us to the next best practice....

#2 - DO NOT USE IN AN EXTREME CLIMATE

I have had very few mishaps with edible toppers but when I do, it's almost always because it's too humid or too hot. Summer months are notorious for high humidity and it makes the frosting circles work more like fabric as they are droppy and not stiff. The moisture in the air makes it nearly impossible for them to ever "dry" out enough to stand upright or flat unless they are 100% on a frosting base. When you have high humidity in a hot climate, my advice is to turn on an air conditioner and get your temperature up in your house to below 74 degrees. You wouldn't believe how HOT a kitchen can get when your baking on a summer day. Be aware when it's storming outside or a winter system is coming through it may effect your product too!

#3 REVIVE DRY, BRITTLE TOPPERS

It happens sometimes, you go to pull out your toppers and they seem a little brittle. Maybe part of the edge is cracked or they have zero movement. Put them back in the bag CAREFULLY and create a more humid environment to  get them flexible again. I have a steamer, but boiling water works the same. Once you have a good steam flow, take your toppers out and while they are still on their backers, fan over the steam one at a time for a few seconds. You should find that a little steam goes a long way, suddenly your toppers are not on the brink of breaking like fine china, but easy to work with again.

#4 - MAKE SURE YOUR HANDS ARE DRY

So, you're ready for the task of opening the bag and removing your toppers to quickly apply to your treat.... but one damp finger can ruin it all! Edible frosting sheets have the image printed on the front side, where the backside is where you want to touch. Water can distort your image, making it smear, bleed, or look like a water-colored mess. So, wash your hands really, really good.... use gloves if you have them. But, then INSPECT your hands and make sure they are dry. Have a paper towel near you so that while applying the images you can quickly wipe off any frosting that may get on your fingers / hands from handling the cupcakes.

#5 - APPLY TO MOIST FROSTING

No good can come from taking an edible topper and laying it on a textured, crusted buttercream swirl and thinking it will do more than act like a piece of regular paper sitting on top of your crusted frosting. Frosting sheets need a moist surface to "melt" into. That beings said, make sure your frosting has not crusted before applying. Some frosting never crust up, but those bakers out there know what I mean. Frost and place fast for best results. For those placing your toppers on something other than buttercream, please see my next best practice. If you find your buttercream has crusted, spray a light mist of water and then apply your edible image topper.

#6 - MOISTEN ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO

If you plan to apply to gumpaste, fondant, chocolate or hard candy your edible image will only stick with the use of alittle adhesive. I have found that the best way is to use a small cup of warm water and a food safe paintbrush. Have the edible topper image side DOWN and brush the back with a little warm water. That being said, dip the brush in water and then tap off the excess. When you go to brush it on the back, make sure you get almost to the edge, but not all the way, as the moisture MAY make the sides bleed/distort on front of the image topper. Since the topper is made of frosting, a little water will give it just enough tack to stick.

#7 - LEVEL IT OUT

 So the topper is finally on the frosting safe and sound.... the last step is to level it. Do not use your hands or fingers, it will just look wavy and again, you will risk moisture being added. I like to use a clean and dry fondant smoother like the Wilton Fondant Smoother that cost under $3. Be careful when you level it out not to pull frosting onto the top. I press it down and then make a very small motion back and forth or in a circle to level it down flat. If you do not have a fondant smoother, any flat item will work. In a pinch I have used the bottom of a measuring cup or a flat spatula. Make sure your wipe between each topper with a paper towel to keep your smoothing device clean and dry.

Thanks for taking time learn how to get the best results out of your edible cupcake and treat toppers! I custom design precut toppers in .75" , 1" , 1.5" , 1.75", 2" and 2.5" and ship all over. To have a custom 2" Circle Designed for you please check out my 2" Edible Toppers here and save 10% with CODE "BLOG". Use Please find me on Facebook , Etsy and my website!

Not Your Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks and I was planning out what I could bring out of town to contribute to our family feast. My go to is always cake pops, cookies with edible images and custom cakes. With all the baking I have been doing for others right now, the thought of adding more to my plate was exhausting. I want something easy to make and easy to travel with. I want a Thanksgiving staple, not just a extra dessert. So, a pumpkin pie seemed easy to make (or pick up frozen) and bring it down. Now, my brain doesn't really work like that. A normal pumpkin pie couldn't be what I brought.... maybe I could come up with a cool recipe... a neat display..... turn it into a turkey.... and finally it hit me, place an edible image on top and call it a day!

I had already designed some personalization edible images that are created with the latest typography word art style and thought I could start there and see if a pumpkin pie could handle an edible image. Most things can.... whipped cream, ice cream, frosting, syrup and even biscuits. So, for my trial run I ran to the store and bought a frozen pumpkin pie. I then took my 2" Cookie Design and resized it to 7.5" Round, printed it out and placed it in a zip-lock bag until my pie was ready for it's trial run.

Baking was easy, one hour per the instructions on the box and it as done. I took it out, let it cool down for about 20 minutes and was ready to give it a try. My impatience kicked in and since it was still hot to the touch, I knew I would have to forgo the whipped topping layer. The reason for my impatience....  I teach at the local Michael's and didn't have time to wait for it too cool down.

I washed and dried my hands thoroughly as the worse thing that can happen to an edible image is water to cause the image to bleed. I took the edible image out of the zip-lock bag and peeled it off the backing sheet. Then, I placed it right on top of the pie and used my clean, dry hand to lightly smooth it onto the top.

I took these photos right when the pie was still really hot. I didn't add any thing to the back of the frosting sheet. The heat from the pie really helped adhere it to the pie so I was satisfied with my choice to skip the whip cream. Even though it turned out good, next time I would wait for it to fully cool and then either put a big layer of whipped cream or brush the pie with some whipped cream or just wet it a little bit with a mister/pastry brush with water. Though the image will hold and stay for days, be careful with condensation from the refrigerator or just the heat from the pie (which I why I suggest to cool it).

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for taking a minute to learn more about personalized pumpkin pies!

To order your own personalized edible pumpkin pie topper check out my Esty listing! Use the promo code BLOGGER for 10% Off!

Enderman, Steve and Creeper Pumpkins

Last Year's Monster University Halloween Party Theme

It's Halloween and since my youngest son has an October birthday we always decorate the front of our house with his birthday theme. Last year he was having a Scare University Party and we painted our pumpkins as Mike and Sulley with a Sulley Fur wreath on the door! It was easy to find other purple and teal decor to match and make a not so scary Halloween for the kids. Now this year the party theme wasn't so easy to match with Halloween.  Minecraft has taken over our house, so a Minecraft Painting Party was in the works. Decorating our pumpkins became something of a challenge because we knew they weren't monsters or really that scary looking. My 4 year old son insisted that the Creeper is scary, but looking at a green block head with black square eyes was not something I can see anyone running from. Regardless, we went with it and I purchased our pumpkins and supplies for this fun project and picked a night in October to get these finished up and on the porch in time for the party event!

My son painting his Mike pumpkin
last year from his Monster's Inc Party!

For the Minecraft themed I mixed up the colors needed and we got started at the kitchen counter. We chose to do Steve, Creeper, Enderman and a TNT Box since they were simple and commonly recognized. Since painting with acrylics can be time consuming and messy, take my advise and have the kids wear aprons and not their good clothes. Also, have a hair dryer handy to dry each layer in 30 seconds, instead of 30 minutes! In no time you can paint your pumpkins and easily remedy any mistakes by drying them and painting over the mistake. The acrylic paints have good coverage. A little trick I used that is specific for these Minecraft characters is using a foam paint brush and cutting the tip off so it's not so rectangular and more a square. Then put the square into the paint and just sponge it on as needed. It gives a perfect square template to then go over with your paint brush to fill in completely. I always let the kids paint the pumpkins first. I tell them to paint and I will help at the end. There are some pumpkins that they get to finish fully. But, you know how kids are with paint. At some point they only painted one part and all of the table before they walk away 100% satisfied. This being said, they do what they can and then when they are finished I "help" them finish it up. After they dry the acrylics are pretty water resistant and I placed them out on our porch for our Halloween and Minecraft Birthday Party decorations.

What You Need:

Acrylic Paints in Various Colors

Paint Brushes and Sponge Brushes

Blow Dryer

Paper / Disposable Table Cloth

Pumpkins (REAL or Synthetic)

Paper Plates for Mixing Colors

Sealer / Modge Podge Optional

Time
Appr. 10 Minutes for Setup
Appr. 2 Hours for Painting all 4 Pumpkins Shown
Appr. 15 Minutes Clean Up


See more photos from the Scare University Party at my Facebook Page!

Putting Your Edible Images on Pancakes

I think a lot of people get intimidated by edible images. Perhaps you think you need to be a professional baker to use them. This morning I decided to take a little video of my son preparing his pancakes with some Halloween themed edible images.

What you need:

- Pancakes
- Syrup and/or Butter
- Butter Knife
- Edible Images
- Plate
- Fork

Now, we only had small pancakes in the freezer so that is what we used for this quick tutorial. The small edible images work perfectly on the mini pancakes if you happen to have those. Either way, I have been making these special pancakes for the kids on holiday mornings for years.  As you can see in the video the steps are as follows:

How To

Have all your tools / edible images ready to go (make sure you keep your edible images in an air tight bag until ready to use). Heat up your pancakes in microwave per the instructions and then put plate near your setup. Add a small amount of syrup and/or butter. Remove the edible image from the backing sheet. Place immediately onto the pancake. Repeat until all your pancakes are decorated.

Pretty easy and something that I love to do for my children when I want them to smile a little bigger that day!

Never Forgotten Designs provides custom designs for party planners, bakers and more! If you are looking for edible images in any shape, for any application contact me through my Facebook Page, Etsy Shop, or Online Store.