Filigree Icing Technique for Cakes

Filigree icing is a very intricate and elegant cake decorating technique. This is a piped decorating technique and is quite a traditional form of cake decorating. It is most often used in decorating wedding cakes due to its intricate nature which resembles delicate designs such as laces and lace borders. Nevertheless, this technique can be used on any cake and is quite easy to learn.

One advantage of this technique is that the icing can be prepared ahead of time and used as and when required. This not only saves time, but also the stress of having to pipe lace directly on cakes.

Here is how to decorate a cake with filigree icing:

These are the main supplies I use:

Royal icing of stiff consistency
Plain Wilton nozzle/tip No.1 or 2 (Use the small round tip if you want to produce more intricate and fine lace patterns)
Parchment paper or non-stick baking sheets
Templates
Paper clips

And this is how to do it:

First and foremost, get the designs ready. Make a rough estimate of how much of the finished lace pieces you need for your cake and get the required number of templates ready. You can create your own designs by drawing out one row and then copying it until your paper is filled with it.

Cut a piece of parchment paper or nonstick baking sheet as big as your template. Place the parchment paper on the template and secure both papers with paper clips so that the papers don’t move while you are piping your designs.

A see through paper on a piece of filigree design template, secured with paper clips

Next, place the clipped sheets on a flat and even surface. Using royal icing and Wilton nozzle/tip no. 1 or 2, trace the designs onto the parchment paper.

Once all the designs are traced with royal icing, remove paper clips and let the icing to dry and set completely. Depending on the humidity of your place, the royal icing needs anytime between one hour to overnight.

Once they are completely set, carefully peel off the icing from the parchment paper. If the icing is completely set, the icing should separate for the sheets easily. If they don't, leave them aside for a little longer until they are completely dry. Once peeled, the filigree designs are ready to be used.
They can be attached to cakes with dots of royal icing, either as flat deco or since they are all dry and set, they can even be attached in an upright position, depending on the design of the cake.