# Transferring a design



## oli (Aug 31, 2001)

Is the only way to transfer a design onto a cake that is frosted with chocolate ganache by making the design on a piece of parchment paper and after it has set then separate the chocolate from the parchment and place on cake? It seems much more convenient to take the design on paper and place it on the cake then pin hole the design and then connect the dots. But the ganache is too delicate for anything to touch it, even paper, without leaving a smear or blemish. Is the answer to freeze the cake, if so wouldn't one loose the sheen?
Thanks


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

Most people wouldn't recommend freezing finished cakes frosted with ganche. The defrosting process kills the look of the ganche. I always coat it after I've defrosted. 

I have no idea how you transfer a design other then those projectors I've seen in some bakeries. How do you do it on reg. cakes? Don't you free hand it?


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Freehand works best for me, but the method you mentioned, placing the paper on the cake and tracing, might work, as long as you completely fill in the smooshed areas with your design. (i.e. filling in the disign, rather than just outlining).


----------



## oli (Aug 31, 2001)

Doing it free hand by me stinks, I guess its because I don't do it everyday. I've seen the designs in Bo Friberg's book and figured it works for buttercream frostings but I thought there might be some trick on applying them that I was not aware of.
Thanks anyway.


----------



## pastry--chef (Aug 13, 2001)

Hey Oli 
have you looked at the technnique in Bo's professional pastry book where he pipes his design mirror image onto either a glass or plastic sheet with chocolate or royal icing then use this to impress upon the ganache, i've tried this with birthday plaques with pictures on them when I 1st started, after a while u will build up the confidence and technique to do it free hand.by the way this method is on page 1013 of Bo's book for clearer directions. Cheers Pastry Chef


----------



## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

The only real advise I can give you is I find it helpful to pre-draw what you intend to pipe, on a sheet of paper before you attempt it on the cake. Draw out exactly the size of your cake and get your positioning of your drawing into the cake shape. Then your only re-drawing it on the cake and can follow "your notes" instead of figuring out the drawing as you go which requires more ability. I'm a former profressional artist and I even pre-draw items for my placement!


Also making your "plaques" seperate from your cake will save you from making corrections on a hard to fix surface of ganche. You can draw on both sides of a piece of solid chocolate before it's ruined, but then you just melt it down and re-use it...and try again. You can store chocolate plaques in the cooler for a long time. 

Practice.....you could try looking at some basic drawing books that teach you how to draw by breaking down items into basic shapes. This helps you see size, shape and proportions better and how they relate and come together in a drawing.


----------

