Having my cake and eating it too

Okay,

I have a super fun thing I tried. I have been wanting to try the Photofrost icing sheets for some time. Their prices are much less than what you will pay in your local craft store. I knew there would be a little bit of a learning curve on these. Hopefully I can share what I learned from the experience. My son has a birthday on a few weeks so this gave me a chance to take a test run with the icing sheets.

The great thing about these is that they have their own paper backing so there is no need to use shortening to adhere it to the mat like you do when you make your own fondant or gumpaste.

I wiped down my machine with some Clorox disinfecting wipes. I also wiped the blade holder and blade and put in a new 60 degree blade.  I also did all this afterward. Make sure you get in under the rollers.

I taped the edges and moved over the middle little rubber rollers to the side so they don't mess up the icing in the middle.

My first sheet was really to get a feel for what I was doing. I had no idea what settings to use. (No instructions)

My first test cut ripped an teared a little. I adjusted some settings until I found this combo worked best for me-
I use a click blade holder. A setting of 2 blade length worked better than a one to avoid the holder from touching the icing sheet and pushing on it. I found that a force of 1 was all I needed. No more.

Other lessons learned- Icing sheets are not paper and will tear much easier. I had better cut when I wasn't so close to the edge of the sheet. I also had to modify my first cuts to be not so thin.

Icing sheets start to dry out quickly. Make sure you are ready to cut before you take them out. At one point I added a very thin layer of butter to re-moisten the sheet since I was still in experiment mode.

Speed- If using a Zing I would say maybe a 9 on speed.

I am not using any print and cuts since I don't have a food safe printer or ink.

Here is my final cut that was to go on the top of the cake.I weeded the excess away from my cuts and let them dry a little to make them easier to handle.

I like the chance to try anything fun and different with my cutter. Would I try this again? Absolutely. Be sure to buy some extras to allow you to learn your way through.

The sheets are light and thin and don't take away from your frosting taste.

Now to come up with something awesome for my son's birthday......

Thanks for stopping by!

Update:

I spoke with them awesome people at Photofrost and have some more acurate info on setting when cutting the icing sheets:

Sorry, Yes I should have told you I normally use 40-45 force and only 1 multi-cut, speed 10.

 

I was suprised to read that you only used a force of 1.  That seems strange to me. 

 

I also should have told you that depending on what you are cutting you don't need a mat.  Your first cut (the one that didn't go so well, would not have needed a mat to cut it. 

 

Also your small rollers do not affect the icing sheet as much as you would think, I have mine in place. Only move them when I tried fondant.

 

I plan to try these settings on my next Photofrost icing sheet adventure!