I cut this stencil out of regular letter paper, and placed it on top of the cake after chilling it briefly to let the frosting just barely set (so it wouldn’t stick to the paper). I don’t think the sugar sticking is a big problem (since it’s not like you’ll be holding the cake upside down or anything!), so if it’s not super tacky that’s a good thing. It was a bit tricky pulling the stencil off, and some sugar fell off the paper, but overall it worked pretty well. Maybe get some help (four hands) pulling the paper off?

Hope that helps, best of luck! :)

I’ve got a question for ya…I’m about to make a cake for my daughter’s first birthday and really want to do a “1″ stencil instead of a candle. I did a test run the other day (with glittered sugar) and it was a disaster. I’m thinking I’ll try again with powdered sugar next time. I remembered your post and I LOVE this cake. Do you have any tips for stenciling? At what “stage” was your frosting when you applied the stencil. I’m thinking it needs to be set a bit so the stencil won’t pull it up, but not too set or the sugar won’t stick??? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

Happy thanksgiving