FROSTING SHEET - HELPFUL HINTS

The Ingredients of our Frosting Sheets are Kosher Certified and FDA approved.

What are Icing or Frosting Sheets?

Frosting sheets are layers of flavorless icing pressed thinly onto backing plastic sheets. The plastic sheets can be peeled off after printing it with the desired image. The idea of adding the plastic sheet is to keep it smooth enough to pass through an edible printer. Ingredients of frosting sheets are generally derived from tapioca or starches, with added sugar and gums. Our frosting sheets are dairy, gluten, nut free and FDA Compliant.

You Can Use Frosting Sheets On

Fondant - Using a brush apply water where your image will be placed. Water outside the image area will leave a mark on your fondant.

Cookies  - There are several ways to adhere to edible images/decals to the cookies. You can use edible glue, Regular icing, frosting, royal icing, or corn syrup thinned with a little water will adhere the image to most cookies.

Oreo Cookies - Apply corn syrup thinned with a bit of water to the chocolate cookie and place the edible image on top.

Hard candy lollipops - Lightly coat the lollipop with corn syrup thinned with a little water, apply the image on top.

Buttercream - Frosting sheets are best if placed on a butter-cream type frosting.

Whipped Cream - Because of the high water content in whipped cream, you should apply the edible image as close to serving time as possible. Any type of frosting that has very high moisture content will tend to cause bleeding. A thin coating of butter-cream can be added where the image is to be placed to avoid bleeding/fading.

How to Use Frosting Sheets?

Getting your desired image on the sheet

It is recommended that the edible icing sheets are fed into the printer without removing the plastic backing to prevent paper jams. Place the frosting sheet in the printer with the frosting side facing you and the plastic on the back.  For best results, Icinginks icing sheets should be fed as single sheets manually from the top/ rear tray. It is important they are fed as flat as possible and without curved edges. Place the frosting sheets in your edible printer just like normal paper, and print any image you desire, using Icinginks edible ink printer. Once the printing is done, let the frosting sheet dry for least 2-3 minutes.

Note: Always use the Rear Tray Feed. Printers with a bottom tray paper feed make the frosting sheets pass through a tight turn which can lead to the removal of the backing from the sheet and paper jams.

When To Apply Edible Images

If you are using buttercream or any other harder frosting, the image can be placed on at your convenience, but not more than 48 hours prior to the event. Depending on how wet your frosting is, the image will begin to fade with too much moisture. If you are concerned about fading, place the image on the cake within an hour of the event.

Tip: DO NOT let the water come in contact with the edible image before or after on the cake. The edible ink from the printed image will bleed, also the sheet will melt and ruin the print.

How To Apply Edible Images

Release the image from the backing sheet, simply hold the corners (image facing up), and roll across the sharp edge of a tabletop, slowly working in from all sides toward the center.

Ensure the icing is still moist or sticky. It is this moisture in the icing that will ensure the image blends with the cake. If it becomes dry, apply a very fine mist of water over it before applying your printed frosting sheet that will help to stick the frosting sheet with the cake. With the with clean, dry hands lay the edible image sheet on top of your cake by holding ends and gently applying from the middle first, to the ends. Gently smooth out the edible image and pat down to make sure that there are no air bubbles underneath the sheet air bubbles may distort the image. Leave the edible sheet for about 20 to 30 minutes on the food. This will help the edible image to get absorbed into the food and became a part of it.

Trick if the plastic backing doesn’t peel off

Sometimes, the plastic backing does not peel off easily due to factors like humidity and atmospheric temperature that slow down the drying of the edible ink and the sheet to the right threshold. Climatic condition varies from place to place, so there is no single formula to work everywhere. To peel your icing sheet off the backing, you need to remove the moisture/humidity from the icing.

 Applying one of the below tips can solve the problem.

1. Put the printed sheet in the ziplock bag and place the sheet in a DRY freezer for about 10 to 15 seconds, the humidity within a freezer is generally very low, and with the cold temperature the icing will harden up very quickly. Make sure the freezer is a dry one, not a wet freezer, take out the sheet, and then remove the backing immediately.
2. Place the frosting sheet in an oven at a low temperature, for about 1-2 minutes, or lay the sheet on a warm pan for a minute or two. You may also make use of a Salton “TYPE” hot tray at low heat to dry the icing sheet.
3. Use a blower type Hairdryer (or any other hot air supply) on the reverse side of the backing sheet on high hot for 30-40 seconds. After heating the backing sheet, let it cool down before attempting to remove the icing (the cooling process allows the icing sheet to stiffen)This method is very reliable and should solve your release problems.
4. Leaving the frosting sheet in an air-conditioned area also helps
5. Pull the backing sheet over the sharp edge of a tabletop a couple of times. This technique will help to pop the image off the backing sheet

Note: The only reason that makes the backing stick with the frosting sheet is the underlying moisture caused by edible ink usage or atmospheric factors. All the above steps are aimed at reducing the humidity or moisture.

Removal of backing from frosting sheets with a complicated edible design that consumes much ink may take more effort as the wet ink may take more time to dry out. You may need to repeat a step several times for a satisfactory release.

If the relative humidity in the atmosphere is high depending upon the season, you should not keep the frosting sheet in open for long after removing from the ZipLock bag. It may absorb additional moisture from the atmosphere.

What if the Frosting Sheet Appears to Be Dry or Brittle? – Opposite Scenario

DO NOT use a “Dry or Brittle” frosting sheet for printing. The sheet may break off during the printing process and may cause damage to the printhead or Paper Jams.

Factors causing dryness or brittleness in the frosting sheet

1. Inappropriate handling of the frosting sheet. Like leaving the frosting sheet out of the ZipLock bag for an extended duration
2. Neglecting to re-seal the ZipLock bag completely
3. The extremely dry climatic condition 

Tips to address dryness or brittleness

You may add moisture to the sheet or retain the existing moisture by any of the following means

1. Holding the frosting sheets over a pot of steaming water for a few seconds
2. Store frosting sheets sealed in ZipLock bag in a Room temperature. DO NOT keep in a freezer or refrigerator, as this may further take away the moisture.
3. Spray the sheets with a fine mist of water using an Airbrush, Steam Iron, or any other water-misting device. Do not use the sheet instantly to print. Allow the sheet to dry a bit and come into the usable condition.

 What If the Color From the Printed Frosting Sheets Bleed on The Food?

Understanding the Factors: Bleeding is caused when the frosting sheet with the edible image is placed on a high moisture content frosting such as a whipped cream type frosting.

Tips to avoid bleeding

1. Use frosting sheets on a butter-cream type frosting
2. While applying on a whipped cake frosting, apply a thin coating of butter-cream first before placing the frosting sheet
3. Remove the image from the backing sheet, and coat the back of the image with a thin layer of butter-cream before laying it on top of the whipped-cream surface
4. Freeze the cake before applying the image, and keep frozen until you need to serve it 

Note: Do not Keep the printed edible image frosting sheets into plastic bags and/or containers. This will create moisture or sweating that will cause the formation of water droplets which may fall on the image and bleed it's color ingredients. The only place in a cardboard box.

STORAGE

DO NOT REFRIGERATE. This may dry out the icing sheets and cause it to crack.

Simply keep the frosting sheets stored flat in the original white cardboard box within the silver bag sealed tightly inside the zip-lock bag at a cool and dry place.  Keep out of direct light, Exposure to heat and light may affect the quality of your print. These sheets come with a shelf life of 12 months. When it comes to print with the frosting pages, plan ahead of time and then store them in a big, zip-loc bag. Everything has an expiration date, but just like anything else, frosting sheets can lose their taste, texture, and life with improper storage.

The printed icing sheet will last at least 6 months if stored correctly. Over time, you may find the color deepens and the sheets become slightly firmer.