Make A Buttercream Transfer

What do you love about Halloween?

One of the traditions I love is watching the Peanuts holiday special,
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".
I remember when I was a kid, looking forward to the one night it was broadcast each year.
If you weren't parked in front of the TV that one night, you missed it.

Now I watch the DVD with my kids whenever we want!
I love the story, I love the music and I love Linus!
How could you not adore a kid with such passion and commitment?

So, here is my ode to this classic Halloween story.

I made a buttercream transfer of Linus in the pumpkin patch.

Want to learn how to make one too?

 

First, decide what image you want to create. You can find it online and print it, or coloring pages are great templates. Use a photo editing program to "flip" your image before you print it (you want to make a reverse image) and size it for your cake. Tape your template to a piece of cardboard and tape wax paper on top of it.

Next comes your outline. To make black frosting, start with chocolate fudge frosting and add a little black food coloring gel. If you start with white frosting you will need LOTS of black gel...and eating it will give you black teeth! I used a Wilton #3 tip to pipe the outline. If you make a mistake, use a toothpick to remove that part. Notice how I didn't exactly follow the template and added a pumpkin? If your template isn't just what you want, you can just use it as a guide and improvise.

Now you get to color inside the lines! Make a batch of buttercream frosting, then divide up small amounts and add food coloring gel. Starting at the top of your transfer, pipe in your colors one at a time. Be sure to fill in all the empty spaces. For really tiny spaces, use a Wilton #1 tip.

When you are finished, put your buttercream transfer in the freezer. Then assemble and frost your cake. When the cake is ready, get out your transfer. Flip it over and place it gently on the cake. Next, put the whole cake in the freezer! Wait at least 30 minutes, then  take it out and slowly peel the wax paper off your transfer.

Enjoy!