Tips on Storing, Handling and Applying your Edible Images
Images are printed on an actual layer of icing with edible inks. The icing is held together by a plastic backing sheet that you will remove before applying the image to your frosted treats. The frosting image only has 1 plastic backing sheet, once this backing sheet is removed, it is ready to be applied.
STORAGE: Keep your frosting sheet sealed in the zip-lock bag that it comes in until you are ready to use it. Store flat on a shelf, at room temperature and out of direct sunlight. Shelf life of frosting sheets is about 24 months if stored properly. Do NOT put the image in the fridge or freezer as this will cause the sheet to dry out and crack.
NOTE: Some edible images may have light/faint black edible ink lines going through them, this is normal for thicker frosting sheets and should fade once they are melted into the frosting.
CUTTING IMAGE SHEETS: Edible images are NOT precut. Images will have a black cutting line around them so you can easily cut/trim your images to size. You can trim off any white borders as well if you’d like. Just use a clean pair of scissors to cut/trim frosting sheets before you remove the plastic backing sheet.
WHEN TO APPLY: If you are using butter cream or any other harder frosting, the image can be placed on at your convenience, but not more than 48 hours prior to the event. Depending on how wet your frosting is, the image will begin to fade with too much moisture. If you are concerned about fading, place the image on the cake within an hour of the event.
HOW TO APPLY: Do NOT let water come in contact with the edible image before or after on the cake. The sheet will melt and ruin the print. Make sure your hands are clean and dry before handling the image. Your frosting should be fresh. If your frosting becomes dry, spray a fine mist of water over the frosting NOT the image, before applying the image to your frosted treat. If your treats surface is moist, do NOT add any extra moisture. Using too much water may cause colors to run and melt your image. Edible images will not melt into frosting if the frosting is too dry.
Edible images can’t be moved once applied. Plan where you want the image to be placed. Gently peel icing image from the plastic backing sheet, should peel away easily. If any difficulty removing, pull backing sheet over the sharp edge of a table to loosen your image and the icing sheet should come away from the backing sheet. Never pull on the image itself as it can tear.
Lay the edible image sheet on your frosted treat by holding ends and gently applying from the middle first to the ends. Gently smooth out the edible image making sure the edges are touching frosting. If the image bubbles after application GENTLY TAP (do NOT rub) the image. It will take 20-30 minutes for the image to melt into the frosting (could take longer) depending on frosting, so allow time and be patient. If you touch it, you may leave a fingerprint just like frosting does. Add a piped border or edge decorations of your choice to finish.
Once the sheet is fully applied, let it rest for a bit at room temperature and let the cake sweat a bit. Doesn’t take long. This will bring out those air bubbles (hopefully minimal). For the ones that are noticeable you can take a small pin (straight pin) and pop the air bubble and smooth it out – just like you would for air bubbles in fondant. Just a small poke and then you should be able to smooth out the air bubble without wrinkling it. You can store the finished treat in the refrigerator to keep image moist and free of cracks until serving. Avoid extensive exposure to ultraviolet lighting. As with any food coloring, the image may fade over time.
USE ON: You can apply to any colored frosting as these are the thicker premium sheets. However if you are still concerned that the dark colors might show through the image you can always put the image on a thin piece of fondant then onto your frosting treat.
Butter Cream Frosting - Apply image right after icing the cake. Butter cream icings will form a thin crust after 15-30 minutes. If butter cream has formed a crust, spray with a fine mist of sugar water or brush corn syrup on butter cream icing before applying the image.
Whipped Toppings – Do NOT add extra moisture. Because of the high-water content in whipped cream, you should apply the edible image as close to serving time as possible. Any type of frosting that has very high moisture content will tend to cause bleeding. A thin coating of butter cream can be added where the image is to be placed to avoid bleeding/fading.
Ice Cream Cake - If applying the image to an ice cream cake iced with non-dairy whipped topping, Do NOT add any additional water. If you are applying the image directly to ice cream, it is best to allow the ice cream to "sweat" a little bit before applying the image or mist the ice cream with milk before applying the image. If you are working with soft-serve ice cream you will achieve better results by applying image while the ice cream is soft, then freeze. If the image bubbles after application or during freezing, GENTLY TAP (do NOT rub) the image. If the decorated cake is frozen thaw slowly, preferably in a refrigerator. As with any food coloring, the image may fade over time.
Sugar Paste or Fondant – Use a small brush to apply water only where image will be placed. Water outside image area may leave a mark on your fondant (though tend to dry back to normal color).
Royal Icing – Its best to apply your image immediately after icing your product, since it has not hardened completely. If not, add a generous mist of water over royal icing before applying the image.
Poured Chocolate or Ganache - Pour icing over product then apply image while icing is wet. Let image set before moving.
Regular/Store Bought Frosting – If using store bought frosting or using frosting that has been stored in the fridge, take it out and blend in a bowl until it is soft and creamy. You may have to mist the top of layered frosting with sugar water to get it moist for your icing sheet.
Frozen Cakes – Thaw slightly before icing to avoid cracking, then apply the image. If decorated cake is frozen thaw slowly, preferably in a refrigerator, uncovered to avoid running of colors and sweating.
Cookies – There are several ways to adorn decals to cookies. Regular icing, frosting, royal icing, or corn syrup thinned with a little water will adhere the image to most cookies.
Oreo Cookies – Apply corn syrup thinned with a bit of water to the chocolate cookie and place the edible image on top.
Hard candy lollipops – Lightly coat the lollipop with corn syrup thinned with a little water, apply the image on top.
Chocolate – Corn syrup, thinned with a little water, applied to the bar works well or heat the chocolate with a hair dryer for about 20 seconds. Apply the edible image on top.
TIPS:
- Frosting or icing should not be dry or have a skin before applying image. Edible image will not melt if too dry.
- Images should not be refrigerated until applied to frosted treats.
- The icing sheet will have either no taste or a slight vanilla flavor. It is safe to eat directly off the backing and does not require being placed on treats.
