• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cake Journal

  • Cake Lounge
    • Easy Embossed Cookies Recipe
    • How to Make Heart-Shaped Cake with Buttercream Roses
  • Desserts
    • Best 3 Cookie Scoop Sizes and How to Use Them?
    • Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Review and Tutorial
  • Recipes
    • Traditional Castella Cake Recipe
    • Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting (Easy Recipe)
    • Best Frozen-Themed Cake Ideas with Images
  • Tips & tools
    • What to Do With Cake Scraps? (9 Easy Recipes)
    • Luster Dust: If You Don’t Know About It, You Need To!
    • How To Use Edible Glue and How to Make It
    • How to Use Russian Piping Tips and Tutorial
    • What Is Wafer Paper and How to Use It? (Video Tutorials)
  • Tutorials
    • How To Make Royal Icing (Easy Recipe)
    • How to Flood Cookies with Royal Icing?
    • How To Use Candy Molds Properly
    • How to Make Cake Pops: Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial
    • Fondant On Cookies: Easy Way To Decorate
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

How to make a chocolate transfer

February 16, 2013 by CJ [email protected] 30 Comments

blogpic1.jpg

When I discovered cake decorating, one of the first books I fell in love with was The Whimsical Bakehouse – Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look  by Liv Hansen and Kaye Hansen. One of the techniques covered in the book is how to make chocolate transfers. These edible decorations can be made weeks in advance. They can be made large for an impressive cake topper or small for a fun cupcake topper. The fluidity of the chocolate lends itself to fine-line designs that can be hard to replicate in other ways.

You should know these basic tips before working with chocolate:

  • Do not get any water in the chocolate because it will make it seize.
  • Because of the water issue, you cannot use gel food colors in chocolate. Instead, you must use candy colors, which are oil-based.
  • Follow the directions to heat your chocolate in the microwave in short intervals. It burns easily.
  • You must print a “mirror image” of your design. This is especially important if there is wording on your design.
  • You may store chocolate transfers for up to a month in a cool place. Use an airtight container.

blogpic2.jpg

This is what I used:

Large flat cookie sheet

Images printed to desired size

Tape

Parchment paper

Candy melts- I use this brand because it is nut-free. Other brands would work as well.

Candy colors

Fine tip squeeze bottle (parchment cones are also recommended and can be found at the same link)

Step 1:

Arrange the images by spacing them out on your cookie sheet. This will allow you to rotate it and work on one at a time without bumping into the others.

blogpic3.jpg

Step 2:

Tape down your images to your cookie sheet and lay the parchment paper over them. You may also tape the edges of your parchment paper to keep it steady at this point.

blogpic4.jpg

Step 3:

Choose a color scheme. I had four squeeze bottles so I decided on black, pink, blue and white.

blogpic5.jpg

Step 4:

Melt your candy melts then add the candy colors. For the black outline color, I needed a lot so I am pouring it in this photo. For the pale blue and pink, I carefully added a small amount with the tip of a toothpick. (Tip: You can make this step faster if you buy pre-colored candy melts.)

blogpic6.jpg

Step 5:

Stir well.

blogpic7.jpg

This silicone bowl is flexible so I used it to pour the chocolate directly into my sqeeze bottles.  (Tip: The less you fill the bottles, the lighter and easier they are to control. I learned this in the process.)

blogpic8.jpg

Step 6:

Pipe your outlines in black or your desired color.

blogpic9.jpg

Step 7:

Add your first accent color. I was using a free-form approach to paint in my accent colors. You can be as structured or as loose as you want with your colors.

blogpic10.jpg

Step 8:

Add any additional accent colors. Remember that you have to work in reverse order from the front of the image to the background because it will be flipped over in the end.

blogpic11.jpg

Step 9:

Add a thick background of white. Be sure that the white chocolate slightly overlaps your original black outline at the edges. This will make the decoration strong when it is flipped over.

blogpic12.jpg

Step 10:

Allow your transfers to cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Touch the backs gently to ensure they are hard. At this point, you can remove any tape from the edge of your parchment paper. I carefully cut my parchment into four squares so I was able to flip each design over into my hand and peel the parchment from the back slowly.

blogpic13.jpg

This is what it looks like when you flip over your transfer. This is why you printed a “mirror image.”

blogpic14.jpg

Optional: You can add “relief piping” or fondant accents to the finished side of your transfers for added interest. I cut out some tiny flowers from fondant, then gently shaped them on a foam mat by using a ball tool and a stick tool.

blogpic15.jpg

I attached them to my birdhouse with dots of melted chocolate.

blogpic16.jpg

The finished transfers could be added to the top or sides of a cake. They could also be used as cupcake toppers. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

blogpic17.jpg

Happy Caking!

Renée

Previous Post: « Pink cake for Valentine’s Day
Next Post: How to make bumble bee cupcake toppers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mangalagowri

    July 18, 2020 at 6:36 AM

    First time coming across chocolate transfer. Thank you

    Reply
  2. Mangalagowri

    July 18, 2020 at 6:34 AM

    beautiful work. thanks for this lovely tutorial

    Reply
  3. FirstTime

    November 17, 2014 at 11:16 PM

    I’ve had the Whimsical Bakehouse book for a while and this tutorial helped me get the nerve to finally give this a try! I think I did everything you said but my transfer cracked. I thought maybe I had a temperature problem with the chocolate so I tried again. Better, but the colors I used didn’t seem level. The middle seemed raised. I was attempting a cartoon dog to use on a cake with several colors. Any thoughts on the cracking?

    Reply
  4. sabrina

    April 10, 2013 at 7:02 PM

    Thank you for this great tutorial! I love working with chocolate, there are endless possibilities!

    Reply
  5. miriam

    March 4, 2013 at 8:02 PM

    Did you allow your layers to harden one at a time? I’m just wondering if there is any bleeding with the colors if you do it all at once. I have done this method with buttercream frosting but never with chocolate.

    Reply
    • Renee

      March 5, 2013 at 12:53 AM

      Hi Miriam, I start with the outline color. Then I melt and use all of the additional colors one at a time in sequence. The chocolate dries so quickly that each color is dry by the time I’m adding the next one. If one of your colors was still soft when you added the next, i don’t think they would bleed. But you might bump into the soft color and disturb the line of the design possibly. I hope that answered your question. Good luck 🙂

      Reply
  6. Cakewhiz

    February 20, 2013 at 10:39 PM

    I have heard of buttercream transfers but that always looked too messy. I loveeeeee this idea of chocolate transfer. Can you imagine the possibilities? My god…my mind is racing with ideas..,hehehe

    Reply
    • Renee

      February 21, 2013 at 7:32 PM

      Thanks CakeWhiz!!

      Reply
  7. Donndarae

    February 18, 2013 at 9:08 PM

    Thank you Renee, this is great. It is very easy to follow and straight forward. Keep sharing your awesome ideas. Can’t wait to see what is next.

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 18, 2013 at 11:42 PM

      Thanks Donndarae! I always love seeing (and tasting) your latest projects as well!

      Reply
  8. Helen

    February 18, 2013 at 7:03 PM

    I love this, thank u so much for sharing. You have made it look fairly straight forward, I will definitely try. Do u just photocopy an image?

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 18, 2013 at 11:40 PM

      Helen, if you have access to a computer, you can Google coloring page images. That way, you find images with nice strong outlines. Remember to print the ‘mirror image’, especially if there are words invoved.If you don’t have acces to a computer or printer, you could photocopy an image, lay parchment paper over it and trace it with a fine marker. You could then flip the parchment and pipe directly on the back side of it. When you reveal your transfer, it will be true to the original image.

      Reply
  9. Renee Daly

    February 18, 2013 at 6:41 PM

    Tina, good question! Yes, the chocolate can harden fairly quickly so you have to be organized and work quickly. I heat up only one color at a time as I am ready to work with it. If you are using parchment cones, you can place them on a very low warming plate. If you are working with the squeeze bottles, you can stand them in a warm water bath to keep them melted longer.

    Reply
  10. Tina

    February 18, 2013 at 2:14 AM

    Do you have to work fairly quickly before chocolate begins to cool too much to work with? Do u need to keep warm somehow while working with it?

    Reply
  11. Roshini

    February 17, 2013 at 8:35 PM

    I never knew such things existed even!! It’s so cute. But I can’t try it because, candy melts are not available here ( not even chocolate chips!! )
    But I’m interested in knowing how you do those buttercream transfers. would you mind sharing a post on that?

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 11:43 PM

      Roshini, I’m planning on it for a future post! In the meantime, you can google frozen buttercream transfers to find some good photo and video tutorials that are already online 🙂

      Reply
  12. Elfi

    February 17, 2013 at 10:58 AM

    Hi Renee,

    I have a question. I love this tutorial and can’t wait to try this! Thing is, I’m from Europe, and Candy Melts are pretty expensive here. Can I instead use a normal chocolate bar to melt and color?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 4:41 PM

      Hi Elfi. I agree..good quality candy melts are expensive. I haven’t personally tried it out, but you can feel free to experiment with almond bark, white chocolate chips or white candy bars. Remember to use oil based candy colors or your chocolate will seize. I’d experiment with a simple 2 tone design at first until you make sure it works. That way you invest less prep time. Let me know the results! 🙂

      Reply
  13. claudia

    February 16, 2013 at 5:41 PM

    Oh, that was always one of my favorite books; but haven’t used the technique in a long time. Thanks for reminding me that this is so beautiful; and your interpretation is even better than the books!

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:50 AM

      Claudia, thank you for the sweet comments!

      Reply
  14. Lake Lili

    February 16, 2013 at 2:47 PM

    Thanks! This will be terrific. Really appreciate the time you take to make these tutorials.

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:51 AM

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lake!

      Reply
  15. Joelle

    February 16, 2013 at 2:12 PM

    Pretty darn amazing how little tricks can make a difference in the overall look of a cake. Glad you shared this with us.
    An avid buyer of cook books….I will look into this one.

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:54 AM

      You will love it Joelle. It is full of useful tips,tricks and charts. I pull it out nd reference it regularly.

      Reply
  16. Marillyn E. Martin

    February 16, 2013 at 2:11 PM

    Thank you. I’ve done buttercream transfers, but never thought about using chocolate. Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:56 AM

      Yes, I love doing buttercream transfers, too. The beautiful thing about the chocolate ones is the smoothness of the finished side! I’m glad you enjoyed the post 🙂

      Reply
  17. Linda

    February 16, 2013 at 2:22 PM

    The Whimsical Bakehouse is one of my very favorite books! Love to use this technique. Thanks for always sharing great tips, tricks and techniques, you are super talented! Have a sweet day!!

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:52 AM

      Thank you Linda! Isnt it an amazing book? I could look through the colorful cake picturs all day!

      Reply
  18. Vanessa

    February 16, 2013 at 1:21 PM

    OMG these are SO pretty and cute. You are truly talented – thanks for sharing this technique.

    Reply
    • Renee Daly

      February 17, 2013 at 1:57 AM

      Thank you Vanessa! xo

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Copyright © 2023 · Cake Journal