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    Home » Baking Techniques

    Published on: January 9, 2014 by Janice Lawandi; Updated on: August 30, 2022 7 Comments

    How to stencil the top of a cake

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    Stencilling numbers on a birthday cake, instead of piping, couldn't be easier, and it's a really nice way to avoid trying to write on a cake with melted chocolate.

    spice cake

    Piping is hard. Stencilling is easy. I used this technique to decorate this spice cake with cream cheese frosting.

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    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    First things first: you need a stencil. I opted to use a word processor, choosing a pretty font, typing up the numbers I needed on my computer, and printing them on regular white paper. Remember to make them big enough, but not too big to fit the top of your cake.

    Once you have a stencil made, it's relatively easy. It's just a matter of applying the stencil to the surface of the cake, covering it up with lots and lots of cookie crumbs or sprinkles, brushing them off to reveal the stencil, while also pressing all those crumbs or sprinkles on the surface around the stencil ever so gently so they stick. Finally, you simply have to peel off the stencil to reveal the numbers.

    Overall, I think this is a pretty easy way to decorate a cake and a fun way to celebrate a birthday.

    sliced spice cake with cream cheese frosting

    If you are looking for a smoother look to the numbers, let the cake chill for about 5 minutes in the fridge/freezer before beginning the stencilling process. Chilling hardens the surface of the frosting a little so that the stencil will peel off more cleanly without pulling up some of the frosting. I did this tutorial without any refrigeration, and it still worked out pretty well, all things considered. Now, go forth and stencil some cakes!

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    Comments

    1. Anonymous says

      February 18, 2014 at 1:50 am

      This is really helpful! 🙂 Do you recall the name of the font you used?

      Reply
      • Janice Lawandi says

        February 18, 2014 at 9:02 pm

        Thanks!The font I used is called "superclarendon"

        Reply
      • Anonymous says

        March 16, 2014 at 2:38 pm

        Thanks! I'm collecting great fonts for decorating, and that one reminds me of the way the numbers were printed on the old "Sorry" game cards. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Mallory Frayn says

      January 10, 2014 at 5:58 pm

      This seems quite doable, even for an incompetent cake decorator such as myself!

      Reply
      • Janice Lawandi says

        January 10, 2014 at 10:21 pm

        Definitely doable 😉

        Reply
    3. Rimli says

      January 10, 2014 at 9:52 am

      I always use butter paper or plastic sheet for my stencils. It makes my life less messy 🙂

      Reply
      • Janice Lawandi says

        January 10, 2014 at 10:20 pm

        Awesome! I went straight from printer to cake, but that's a good point 🙂

        Reply

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