How to Put an Edible Wrap Round the Side of a Cake

Get the surface right before the wrap comes out

If you want to know how to apply an edible image to the side of a cake, most of the work happens before you touch the sheet. A firm, smooth surface and a wrap that fits are what make it go on neatly. The rest is patience.

This guide assumes you have already measured the cake and printed your strips. If not, start with how to measure a cake for an edible wrap and how to print one on A4. The free cake wrap size calculator will give you the length for your tin size.

Check the fit on plain paper first. Cake Central suggests cutting a paper template before you cut the real thing. Wrap it round the iced cake and see whether the ends meet. It costs a sheet of paper and saves an icing sheet.

How to apply an edible image to the side of a cake, step by step

The cake should be cold and firm, your hands dry and your strips printed and ready. Work in a cool room, and keep unused pieces flat and covered while you work on the first.

1. 1

   Cut on the grey lines

   Each piece has a cut line and a piece number. Cut just inside the grey line with sharp scissors or a craft knife and a ruler. Cut clean edges: a wobbly cut is much easier to see once the wrap is round the cake.
2. 2

   Release the backing

   Bend the backing sheet gently away from the icing, a little at a time. If the icing won’t let go, Rose Bakes suggests a short freeze of 10–20 seconds, and no longer. Peel it straight away.
3. 3

   Start with piece 1 at the back

   Lay the first piece against the cake with its start at the back, where the final join will sit. A very thin coat of corn syrup on the back of the sheet helps it grip. Press the middle of the piece onto the cake first.
4. 4

   Line up the tick marks

   Each piece has small tick marks that show where the next piece overlaps it. Lay piece 2 so it meets those marks on piece 1, then press it on. Repeat for any further pieces, keeping the top and bottom edges level as you go.
5. 5

   Put the last piece over the start

   The final piece’s end goes over the start of piece 1, at the back. That is the overlap you allowed for when you measured. If the wrap comes up short, Cake Central’s advice is to add another strip of exactly the same height rather than stretching what you have.
6. 6

   Press from the centre out and prick any bubbles

   Smooth each piece from its centre outwards, using your palm or the flat of your fingers. If air is trapped, prick the bubble with a pin and press it flat. Cake Central readers report that trapped air and a crusted surface are the usual causes of bubbles, so a fresh, firm base helps.

Hide the joins with piping (what we did)

However carefully you line up the tick marks, a join is still a join. The easiest way to deal with it is to pipe over it. That is what we did on our own cake: piped buttercream rosettes sat over each join, with more round the top and bottom edges.

Piping also tidies the edges, which are the hardest part to get perfectly straight. It is a good reason to plan your layout around it. The designer’s “Framed for piping” style leaves 12 mm gaps between the photos and 8 mm above and below, so there is room for a border of buttercream round each picture.

If you would rather not pipe, put the joins in the gaps between photos, away from faces. For more ideas on layouts, see our photo cake wrap ideas.

Timing and storage

Don’t apply the wrap too early. Rose Bakes advises applying an edible image no more than 48 hours ahead, and keeping the finished cake out of the fridge. Chill the cake to apply the wrap if you are using buttercream, then keep it somewhere cool and out of the fridge.

Icing sheets and wafer paper behave differently. Wafer paper doesn’t meld into the icing the way an icing sheet does (paper2eat), which is one reason icing sheets suit cake sides. Our icing sheets vs wafer paper guide explains the difference. Warm days make everything harder, so see hot-weather cake decorating too.