I had many dreams as a pre-published author. I’ll list them for a later blog post. But most of all, I dreamt of cake! Yes, I knew that I would eat cake decorated with the cover of my book. It always was a magical experience, to see a cake decorated with a book cover. Here’s how I managed to acquire one such cake for my last book party at Hicklebee’s.
The most important thing is that you have a high-res version (300 dpi) of your book’s cover. I got mine from my publisher & then made a smaller version for the web.
As a new author,
you will want your book’s cover
at your fingertips.
Then you need a cake, ideally with white or very light colored icing so that the transfer colors will stay true. I’ve been lucky to have wonderfully awesome friends bake a few cakes for a couple of my book parties, and then I’ve had to resort to store-bought for the last one. Below is a half-sheet cake, which serves about 30-40 people.
You will need to order a cake transfer. What is a cake transfer? It’s printed with edible inks onto edible paper made of rice or marshmallow. I recommend ordering it within 24 hours of your event because they are rather delicate. Here’s mine below:
A cake transfer is
edible art, delicate,
unique, delicious.
The largest cake transfer I could get was about 7 x 10 inches, which almost completely covers a quarter-sheet cake but also looks nice on a half-sheet cake. I had mine printed at a local Baskin Robbins for $15 and then personally delivered it to my baker friend or the bakery that made my cake. However, I learned the hard way that several Baskin Robbins DO NOT have these special printers that can make cake transfers. So double check with local bakeries, too.
I watched the baker put the transfer onto the cake, and here are some photos. It literally only took a few minutes to finish.
Remove cake transfer
from its packaging, eyeball
the cake’s center space.
Place it carefully
where it needs to go because
it sticks easily.
Pro Tip: Recommend
decorating cake AFTER
putting on transfer.
Pat transfer onto
icing. The transfer will melt
into the icing.
Viola! But I could
still see the transfer’s edges!
Oh no! What to do?
The baker takes blue
icing to pipe a border
hiding all edges.
Piping on edges
only takes a few minutes.
The effect = awesome!
That’s it for the cake! A unique touch to your party & really so easy, once you figure out where to get a cake transfer. Stay tuned for my formal write up on the last Summoning the Phoenix book party at Hicklebee’s!
Cake tastes better when
your book is on the cover.
Author’s dream come true!
Beautiful cake! And so is the book. 🙂
What a great idea! I may have to borrow it. I actually had special cakes made for my book signing last month. Because my photo book is full of pictures of Barbie dolls, I had 2 doll cakes made for the event.