Hello everyone! In this tutorial, I am going to demonstrate how to create a stained glass look on a fondant covered cake.
I love this look because these cakes have such an artistic and unique feel. They are elegant and impressive, even when the designs are quite simple as with today’s daisy and sunshine tiers. — I went with a cheerful look but you will find that the technique from this tutorial can be applied to an endless array of designs and color schemes, from child’s parties to weddings!
Enjoy the tutorial, and don’t forget to scroll beneath the video window for our materials used and notes!
Materials
10 inch and tall 6 inch cake tiers (White Almond Sour Cream) frosted with fluffy vanilla buttercream and covered with fondant.
Gum paste (or fondant with tylose powder kneaded into it) for daisy cake toppers and leaves.
Coloring Gels: We used Americolor Sky Blue, Deep Pink, Electric Green, Bright White, Lemon Yellow, & Super Black
Piping Tips: Wilton tip 1 (for black outlines) although any small round tip is fine.
Paint Brushes– Mine are from the cake decorating rows at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Any small brushes that you use for cakes only are fine.
Artists Palette or Plate for mixing colors
Vodka or Lemon Extract (The alcohol in these dramatically speeds up the dry times of your “paint”). We use vodka.
Royal Icing (from our Recipes)- I like to use royal icing, thickened to piping consistency, on fondant for my outlines. However, a crusting buttercream tinted black should work fine also.
Americolor Food Coloring Pen– I like it for mapping out the design and then tracing over with royal. Use any color you’d like, or simply paint your design & outline later with royal. Creating impressions with cookie cutters which are later painted and traced with royal is another good alternative.
Misc: Cardboard cake circles (I used three–one cut down to size for each tier, and one halfway up inside of the tall 6 inch tier). Then you’ll need your cake base or pedestal. Bubble Tea Straws or supports of choice (I used for supports both within my tall tier as I normally do with double barrel cakes, and also beneath my top tier.)
Notes
While this is my take on stained glass, there are several alternative techniques out there that you may like to try. As I mentioned in the tutorial, you do not have to map out your design with coloring pen if you’d rather not. You can paint your design freehand and then later go back with your outlines, or you can create impressions with cutters or gum paste tools which you can later color in and outline. Some people use petal dust paint, (mixing petal dust with vodka or even brushing on the dust with a dry brush for very subtle color). Others use tinted piping gel to fill in their patterns for a very shiny look. All are good options!
Also, I will soon post another stained glass tutorial–but with buttercream. This method I think is less time consuming because hand painting isn’t involved. Just piping, smoothing, and outlining. I will link to the tutorial once it is posted!
If you are not a fan of piping on fondant, I would imagine that you could get a nice stained glass look just by outlining everything with black coloring pen alone. It wouldn’t have the raised look that our black piping does, but I think that it would still look great!
I hope that you all enjoy this method! Remember to charge more for these types of cakes if you have a cake business, because all of the hand painting is time consuming.
However, the amount of time varies greatly depending on your design. If I had created one or two large daisies, rather than lots of smaller ones, it would have gone more quickly ;0) — Also, you can cut out fondant circles and decorate as stained glass for some classy cupcake toppers to match!
Have fun with this technique!
This cake is so adorable and so gorgeous! I love it! Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks!
This cake is absolutely stunning! Beautiful. I wish I could pipe royal icing like you do. I looked but didn’t see a video for that. Did I miss it? If not, I would like to request one :)
Melissa, thank you so much..this is my request ! Can’t wait to try :)
I can’t view the video….maybe it’s me????
Hi there:
Love it, very pretty….Stain glass on buttercream?… what do you suggest?
Hi Claudia, Thanks for your nice comment. We have videoed and edited the stain glass effect on buttercream, it is a butterfly. It is uploading now and hopefully it will be posted tonight.
u rock!
I LOVE this cake! Of course, I love everything you do, but this is something different. =) Many thanks to both of you, for all you do. <3
OH YOU’VE READ MY MIND!!
Melissa, you have no idea how excited I was to see this video tutorial when entering the website this morning! I’m doing an ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’ by Dr. Seuss, 2-tiered cake for my future daughter-in-law’s graduation party from college (she’ll be an elementary teacher!) and the cake I’ve drawn has lots of what I consider to be ‘stained glass’ artwork involved. This is one of her favorite books and the cake will be a surprise (my intention is for it to be a GOOD surprise hahaha). I’ve been doing some homework by studying photographs of similar cakes, but truly wasn’t confident to the point that I felt comfortable attempting the detail that would be involved! This event is way too important to just give it a go and hope for the best, which is not the way I work on projects.
Melissa and BeBe, you are my angels! O:o) Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING I’ve ever needed to learn about the art of baking I’ve been able to find right here in ‘MY’ Cake School! I’m truly so excited, I just had to share~
Now I’ll be able to tackle her cake without any fear! The fact is, since I found your website, baking cakes has never been a worry! I love the way you teach your classes! I love ‘My Cake School’! I love baking and decorating cakes more than ever!
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for sharing your incredible talents~
God bless and Happy Easter Melissa and BeBe!!
Thank you all so much for your nice comments- We appreciate your feedback so much!
@HollyLE– I need to print out your comment and read it when I’m having a bad day :0) –Soo nice! I’m really glad that the tutorial will be helpful for you in making your daughter-in-law’s graduation cake! LOVE “Oh the Places You will Go” for a theme! xo
I can’t view the video either and I normally don’t have any trouble. Not sure what the issue is. At first it was a blank space, now I see the video up but when the play button is hit, nothing happens
Hi–I’m sorry that you are having trouble! This is almost always a sign that your Adobe Flash player needs updating. I would try that first. If that doesn’t solve it, you can try viewing in another browser or try updating your browser. You can find links to updates if you scroll down to #5 in the Member FAQ linked below–
https://www.mycakeschool.com/member-faq/
Please send us an e-mail if your issue continues! (info@mycakeschool.com)
I love this cake and cant wait to try something like this! Thanks! I learn so much from this site!
The video is still not working for me. This is the first time i am having problems. Tried everything but no success:(
Hi Sadia–I’ll send you an e-mail for more details & info on what you are seeing & about your computer. I’m sorry that you are having trouble!
Finally i get to see the video! It is amazing as always! Thanks
How long do you let the fondant set/dry on the cake before you paint? How far ahead can you bake, fill, and cover the cake and it is safe to eat (without spoiling)?
Hi Joelma, usually by the time I’ve covered my cake with fondant, smoothed, & neatened things up, the fondant is set. If your fondant seems overly soft or shiny, you can wait a few minutes before starting.
We normally bake in advance & freeze our layers until ready to use. After thawing the layers, we fill & stack, cover with plastic wrap and apply a weight to settle for a few hours..and proceed with covering with fondant. This can all be done in the same day. After finishing, you should be fine to leave in a cool room for 2 days assuming the fillings or frosting doesn’t require refrigeration. We often refrigerate our fondant covered cakes (placed in bakery boxes) with no issues. We use Liz Marek fondant. Some fondants may do better than others with chilling. If you are unsure, just place a piece of fondant in your refrigerator for a few hours and see how it does. Let us know if you have any more questions!