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Calligraphy... what?


The definition of Calligraphy: A type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering

Cake decorators generally refer to it as the "writing on the cake", but I look at it as way more than that. Some decorators have the hardest time writing on cakes, it's almost as if they don't try to perfect their writing skills at all.
When I first started decorating cakes I wasn't amazing with calligraphy, but I practiced till my hands hurt. Now i'm at a point in my decorating career where I can say that I think I do a good job.


I have seen some amazing failures when it comes to calligraphy... and so this my friends is the awesome part of the blog. Picture time!



Don't let this handwriting fool you.. it may look nice but, wtf? it's spelled wrong!

Rofl
Do I really need to even say anything to this one? hahaha

Practice makes perfect when it comes to calligraphy.. obviously these decorators haven't done enough of that. Writing with icing is different than a pencil or pen of course, as long as you squeeze a consistent stream of icing you should be able to write. The rest of writing nicely is all based on your personal handwriting.

That also brings up another question, If I can write so well with icing.. how come I can't with a pen or pencil?

Have a great weekend everyone! See you on monday

Comments

  1. KatharineApril 23, 2010 at 7:16 AM

    Found this blog while looking for cake ideas for my mum ... was not expecting calligraphy too! Bonus!

    I can see a whole new 'edible calligraphy' class coming out of this in summer school. Gingerbread scrolls with iced calligraphic mottos. Yummy. At last my students would be obliged to eat their words.

    So -- as an amateur calligrapher who likes eating cake -- I am intrigued on the technical front. Are there 'thick-and-thin' nozzles for doing, eg, gothic or uncial cake calligraphy? Or is there edible ink for painting on with a brush? Or can you ice an outline and then fill in with liquid icing? (Medieval illuminated letters in icing ... with edible gold powder?)

    Great blog. I will recommend to foodie friends.

    Katharine

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aaron CurielApril 23, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    Thanks for the post Katharine! I'm glad to see that you are enjoying my blog :) When it comes to calligraphy I enjoy writing in a "Size 3" icing tip. I believe that the icing flows freely enough that I can control it at a size 3. Doing a text outline is easier said than done. I find the best way to make an outline would be to use a large icing tip, maybe a size 10, write in huge letters and then go back over that text with a size 3 to make the proper outline

    ReplyDelete
  3. KatharineApril 23, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    Aha. Thanks for the nib I mean tip sizes. Ok I can see how a free-flowing icing mixture might get a bit out-of-control for an outline. And the size 10 sounds a bit too huge for the paperback-book-sized biscuits I have in mind.

    If there isn't such a thing as a 'calligraphy-nib-shaped icing tip', probably a thin-lined script like copperplate would be better to do in icing and closer to your nice example at the top.

    But for 'paper' calligraphy there still has to be a contrast between thin and thick lines. How would you go about making thin-and-thick lines with icing? Maybe write it all using a size 3 and then go over the bits that should be thicker with a size ... 5, for example?

    Maybe I should leave you in peace and do some experimenting myself.

    I have totally decided that edible calligraphy is the way forward. It's just the technical details now :-)

    Katharine

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aaron CurielApril 23, 2010 at 9:10 PM

    sounds like a really good idea to experiment! I imagine you could also try writing with a rose tip.. although i've never done it. I imagine if you can control the direction that the icing tip is facing, than you may be able to do a bit more interesting stuff with calligraphy. I'm decorating early tomorrow, i'll give it a try and report back with some results and possibly pictures :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. KatharineApril 23, 2010 at 11:28 PM

    Well, I am learning ... found out what a rose tip is. (So *that's* how you make those fancy roses on flower cakes.) Yes that looks exactly like a Western calligraphy nib. How exciting! Just got to try it out now.

    Looking forward to your results! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aaron CurielApril 24, 2010 at 2:38 PM

    Work was really crazy busy today.. i'm sorry I didn't get time to test it. I will give it a go tomorrow since I only have 2 cake orders, I had 11 today and barely finished on time

    ReplyDelete
  7. KatharineApril 25, 2010 at 9:28 AM

    ELEVEN cakes in a day? That is seriously impressive. I couldn't eat that many let alone decorate them :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aaron CurielApril 25, 2010 at 3:50 PM

    11 cakes in an 8 hour shift is horrible for me lol. I am used to making 30+ cakes in an 8 hour shift. So after playing around with a rose tip, I have come to the conclusion that I like it! I would have to change my writing style yet again, but I do like it :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. KatharineApril 27, 2010 at 1:03 AM

    30 cakes / 8 hours is something like 3.8 cakes/hr which means 15 mins per cake. !!!!! The fastest tip in the West.

    I haven't had a chance to get a rose tip yet. Abroad without the usual resources. But I think Gothic or Italic would work.

    Thanks for the great chat and the hints/tips!

    ReplyDelete

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