Tutorial: Hand-painting pretty words onto fondant cake

This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.

One of my favorite parts about the cake that I recently made for my mom’s birthday is the personalized things written on the fondant around the top layer. It made the cake special and it made my mom cry. Rock on.

fondant cake writing tutorial

However I was slightly terrified of actually writing onto the cake, since my handwriting tends to be messy and slanted without a line to write on. So I came up with a way to write on the cake in a pretty font. If it seems hard or intimidating, trust me, it’s not. And it actually went pretty quickly.

Check out the tutorial below. I hope you find it easy to follow. Feel free to ask questions if something isn’t clear.

1. I started off by measuring around the cake to see how much space I had. I got the length around and the height of the area I had to work in.

tutorial for writing painting text on fondant cake
2. I created a box that was the size of the space I had to work with and wrote out what I wanted the cake to say. I used a program called Adobe Illustrator, but any kind of painting or drawing software that you can make a box and type text in will work.

Note: In the image above, the light grey text was actually changed to black before being printed so that it was easier to read.

3. Print out your text. I printed it in 3 sections, since it was longer than an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper and then cut them down to the right size.

tutorial for writing painting text on fondant cake

4. Mix some pearl dust with a little vodka to make your “paint.” I kept it fairly thick so it would show up better. I put the pearl dust on the edge of the plate with the vodka in the middle so I can just dip my brush in when I need more moisture.

tutorial for writing painting text on fondant cake

5. Use your “paint” to trace the back of the words on the paper. It will be backwards (the word above is “birthday”). I did one word at a time, otherwise the “paint” would dry before I could get it onto the fondant.

tutorial for writing painting text on fondant cake

6. Press the painted side of the paper onto the cake, making sure to place it in the right spot. Press down on the area where the “paint” is to get it to come off onto the fondant. It should give you just enough guidance to be able to go back and trace it with your paintbrush.

tutorial for writing painting text on fondant cake

7. Trace over the word with darker paint and walah! You have beautifully done text painted onto your cake!

Another note: As I went along, one word at a time, I would cut off the word that I had previously done. Which is why you see a gap in the picture above. I had cut off the word “Happy”. I did that for 2 reasons:

1. I didn’t want to smudge the words that were already done.

2. If you cut it just on the edge of the previous word, you can line the edge of the paper up with the end of the word you last painted and you should get correct spacing between each word. I hope that makes sense.

Again, if you have questions, feel free to ask!

As always, thanks for reading!

Share a Comment

Have a question? Use the form below to submit your question or comment. I love hearing from you and seeing what you made!

30 Comments
  1. Aparajita

    This is Brilliant. I have a book cake on which I wanted to print “Shakespeare”. this is such a brilliant and easy way to do it. Thanks.

  2. Ellen Bennett

    great tutorials easy to follow you make it look easy to do I ‘am retired and need something to occupy time think I can sit at table and work on them,just hope I can do half as good as you. Appreciate you give of your time to help others you will be rewarded with lots of crowns I’m sure THANKS

  3. Melissa

    Great tutorial – I’ve been dying to figure out how to write like that – love it and am so excited to try it!

  4. Sara

    This is exactly what I was looking for. I need to transfer signatures to a cake and hadn’t quite figured out how to do it. Thank you!!!!!!!!

  5. Karen porter

    Hey Can you upload the pics again? For some reason I can’t see any of your examples on this page. I’ve checked your other tutorials and can see them fine.

  6. Learn How to Create Hand Painted Cakes like a Pro | Cake and Art

    […] Okay, you are not sure about painting figures? How about learning how to paint beautiful wording on a cake? Check out this […]

  7. Melange

    I have a Tiffany & Co gift box cake to make tomorrow, and wasn’t sure how I was going to free-hand “Tiffany & Co” on the cake. You really only get one chance to do it right! Thank you, so much for sharing

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I'm a wife and a mom to twin boys and a baby girl! And I've got a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the treats!

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29