Making Cookies and Cupcakes Unique with Chocolate Transfer Sheets

Transfer Sheets

From kids to adults, men to women, east to west – chocolate is the favourite of everyone, everywhere. If you are not from the confectionary business, the sight of cookies and cupcakes decorated with beautiful images – online or offline – might have captured your fantasy. 

Don’t just wonder! Learn to shape your yummy wonderful idea using cocoa embellished chocolate transfer sheets. Before you get crafty, know what is a chocolate transfer sheet.

What is a Chocolate Transfer Sheet?

A chocolate transfer sheet is a transparent acetate sheet layered with cocoa butter with a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Cocoa butter transfer sheets help with decorating cookies, cupcakes and chocolates with customized edible designs. It can be procured from edible suppliers or made at home (DIY), discussed later.

It works similar to a transfer paper used in the textile, arts and crafts businesses to transfer paper images on to a fabric (T-shirts, sarees, etc.) or canvas and, hence, serves as a primary cake, cupcake or cookie decoration material.

Food and safety regulatory firms like FDA in the US and FSA in the UK try to standardize the processing and marketing of edible sheets in public interest.  

Making the Best of Chocolate Transfer Sheets

Creating a Beautiful Boundary Cover for Your Cupcake

Turn a chocolate transfer sheet into a beautiful cupcake boundary. Print your transfer sheet with custom edible images, place it in a designer mold, spread melted chocolate on the cocoa-buttered side of the sheet, and allow the cupcake material to settle in. Freeze it allowing the edible design or art work to get transferred to the food item. 

Creating a Beautiful Cupcake Topper

Spread love and taste together with beautiful cupcake topper created using chocolate transfer sheet. Unless you need some special shape, you don’t need a mold for creating toppers. Once the chocolate has settled on the transfer sheet, use a knife or edible cutter to create a design of your choice. You may use a stencil for perfection. Carefully peel off the acetate side of the sheet. Place the design on the top of the cupcake. Keep it in a fridge until you need to serve it.

Creating Designer Cookies with Chocolate Transfer Sheets

Either print a blank or unprinted transfer sheet with an image of your choice or get a custom pre-printed transfer sheet. Cut the sheet into designs of your choice, place it in the mold structure, and pour the cookie material into it. All everything to settle, and then gently remove it from the mold.

If you are making cookies for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, birthday, anniversary, do some homework to find the right image matching the theme. Print the image on the transfer sheet to get the perfect design. 

Creating Cake Decorations with Transfer Sheets

Chocolate transfer sheets with beautiful art work augment the look and flavor of your cake. Use sheets to make the boundary or the topper. Measure the radius of the cake to get started. Pre-cut chocolate transfer sheets are also available in the market to make your job easy. Apply the melted chocolate on the sheet, and once it gets settled, peel off the acetate side, and decorate your cake the way you want. For a professional touch to your edible, here are some recommendations and best practices.

How to Print a Chocolate Transfer Sheet

The chocolate transfer sheet has a thin lamination, which you need to remove before getting it printed. Feed the chocolate transfer sheets into your edible ink printer. Make sure that the laminated side is towards the printer header. Remember, you need a “mirror image”, which will automatically find its right orientation on the edible. Accordingly, change the print settings. Read the Do’s and Don’ts of edible image printing to get the best image resolution. 

What Edible Printer to Use?

Experts suggest using a Canon edible printer as it works great on slippery surface of a chocolate transfer sheet. Preferably, use a compatible edible ink made for the printer to get the desired result. It’s recommended not to mix ink having different constituents or viscosity. Read the label to grab the information.  

How to Use Chocolate Transfer Sheets 

There are two ways to use them as described below.

1.)Making Pre-Molded Chocolate Shapes

Place the chocolate transfer sheet in a molding structure you will use to shape your cake or cupcake. Whether you want a geometrical shape or pattern, a nature-inspired design, or superhero character on a cake or edible item – all comes to life with a molding structure. Go for a non-sticky chocolate / cake mould tray for quick and easy release of chocolates / cakes. Their popularity has triggered their online and offline availability. Molds are made out of various materials including magnetic, silicone or polycarbonate one. 

2.) Directly Transferring Transfer Sheet Design 

Spread melted chocolate on the printed transfer sheet. The design transfers to the chocolate as it cools and hardens producing a lovely visual effect. The chocolate transfer sheets can be cut into strips and shaped and can also be used as a band around a cake or pastry. these sheets can be used for personalized chocolate candy, pralines, and chocolate bars, etc.

Are Custom Chocolate Transfer Sheets Available in the Market?

If you don’t want to invest in the printer, order custom chocolate transfer sheet with edible prints of your interest. You may easily find edible suppliers in your locality. Don’t get disappointed if you don’t. A Google Search will fetch you a lot many options. Tell the supplier of your choice. It may ask you to upload the edible image you love to see on the sheet on its website in simple steps, and place the order.   

How to Make Your Own Cocoa Butter Transfer Sheet

Yes, you can make your own cocoa butter transfers by hand as shown in this edible art tutorial. The typical ingredients you need are 

  • Acetate sheet
  • Tape
  • Cake stencil
  • Microwave
  • 1/2 cup cocoa butter
  • Spatula
  • Chocolate coating wafers
  • Scissors

Checking the Purity of Cocoa Butter

Since cocoa butter is actually a mixture of triacylglycerols i.e. of oleic, stearic and palmitic acid with glycerol. If you add an excess of NaOH, it will lead to the formation of water and soap, which you can easily identify merely observing it visually.  pH value testing is also a quick and easy way to ensure the cocoa butter you have is pure. Natural cocoa is typically a 5.6 pH but can range as low as 5.0 pH. Alkalized red cocoas are typically in the 6.8 to 7.8 pH range, while black cocoa ranges from 7.8 to 8.6 pH.

Excessive alkalization may alter the way the butter solidifies and also it can reduce its shelf life down to 6 months. 

Are Chocolate Transfer Sheets Heat-Sensitive?

Yes, they are. Cocoa melts at room temperature 34–38 °C (93–101 °F). The room temperature may vary from place to place, hence, it’s better to remember the temperature threshold. Once you have applied the chocolate transfer sheet on the edible item, solidify it by allowing it to freeze. 

How to Store Chocolate Transfer Sheets

These sheets are made with cocoa butter, which can melt in hot temperatures, especially during very hot summer months. 

  1. Store your unused chocolate transfer sheets in a cool dry place.
  2. Keep out of direct sunlight.
  3. Handle gently, do not stress or bend the sheets.
  4. Do not freeze

Hope you found the confectionery tips useful. Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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