How to Write on and Decorate a Dog Birthday Cake or Treat
Time to read 3 min
Writing on dog birthday cakes and on dog treats is not as easy as it looks. Similar to royal icing, Pastries 4 Pets' special dog safe icing and frosting mixes can be adjusted through the amount of water that you add. If you want to thicken the frosting or icing up so you can control your letters and cute details, add a little less water to the dog frosting mix. The best way to write on dog birthday cake or on dog treats is to practice on parchment or wax paper first. Practice really does make perfect!
Measure your frosting mix for your dog birthday cake
Dog friendly icing from Pastries 4 Pets' is a mix that only requires water and human grade food color. The first step is to measure your dog cake frosting or icing mix with a measuring cup and read the directions on how much water you “should” add to achieve your final design. I say “should” add because you can adjust the thickness of your frosting or icing by adding tiny amounts more or less water. Once you start using the dog frosting and treat icing mix you will get used to them and will see, first hand, how the amount of water that you add creates different effects which are all beneficial to achieving your completed cake designs.
Add All Natural Food Color Powder
Prior to adding water to your powdered frosting or icing mix, you will want to add your desired amount of powder all natural food color and mix it into your dog treat icing or frosting, be sure to crush up any small clumps of color you might see while you are mixing them together. You can also add more powder color after you mix it up to get a darker coloring. You really can use any food grade coloring to color your frosting, if it's a gel coloring or liquid add it after you mix the icing with water. Liquid colorings might take less water because they are also liquid, you may want to mix your frosting or icing with a little less water to accommodate for this. Another note is that gel based colorings might add extra drying times to your dog birthday cake and decorated dog treats, be sure to allocate extra drying time prior to packaging your cute treats.
Add the Correct Amount of Water
Even though there is water amount directions on each Pastries 4 Pets product labels, the water is adjustable, if you want to use the dog treat icing to “flood” or fill in the background of your dog treat, gradually add water, stir and stop when the icing smooths or flattens completely into itself. If you want to use the icing to pipe letters or details, add less water so the icing is thicker.
Be Sure the Dog Treat Icing is Not Too Thick
The secret to writing letters or messages on top of your dog birthday cake or on top of treats is to fill a decorating bag with thicker icing or frosting and preferably use a decorating tip size #2 to pipe your message. Be sure the icing is not too thick, if it “curls up” while you are using it you will need to add just a teaspoon or so more water.
This is important because if the icing is so thick that you need to press it down to stick it to your treat, it will fall off after it is dry.
Be Sure to Air Dry the Frosting
Speaking of adding letters or cute messages, be sure the base or flooded color of your treat or dog birthday cake is completely dry prior to writing on top of it. If it is too wet, the letters will bleed or spread out into themselves as they dry. The same happens with all other details that you might want to add, always pipe them on dry treat icing or cake frosting.
Practice Makes Perfect!
Practice, practice, practice… The first place to start is to count your letters, this will help you to line them up to make them centered. You can do this by piping the middle letter first and the other letters afterwards. Be sure to practice your piping on a separate piece of paper before you write on your cake or treat.
