Complete Guide To Edible Wafer Paper

A lot of people have never heard of edible wafer paper, but if you’re a cake decorator you’ve probably come across it at some point.

This guide will give you the basics of what wafer paper is, how to use it, and what to watch out for when you use it.

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What is wafer paper? Can you really eat it?

Edible wafer paper isn’t really paper, it’s a sheet of starch. Wafer paper is made from potato starch, vegetable oil, and water that’s been shaped into sheets that look like paper and that can be printed with food coloring inks. It’s fairly tasteless and doesn’t spoil because there’s nothing perishable in it.

And yes, you can eat wafer paper.

Sometimes people refer to wafer paper as “rice paper,” but technically, that’s something different. The wafer paper that’s available for cake decorators is made from potato starch, not rice.

Rice paper is commonly used for wrapping Spring Rolls and in other Asian food recipes, but it’s not the same as wafer paper that’s used for cake decorations.

Edible wafer paper is graded with letters that indicate how thick it is. There’s also a variety called “wafer card” that’s thicker than the paper, almost like a cardstock.

Thicknesses start at around .2 mm and go up to .65 or .7mm, and are graded using letters O (thinnest), AD (medium thickness) and DD (thickest).

I’ve seen other grades in paper show up occasionally, and there are different thicknesses, so be sure to check the specifics of the brand that you’re buying due to possible variations in grading.

If you can’t get the thickest paper, you can always stick a few sheets of regular wafer paper together with piping gel in order to create the thicker version that stands upright on its own.

Wafer card is useful for making thicker images that can be used as a stand-up cake or cupcake topper.

You can eat wafer paper (it is edible, it’s true) and it will dissolve in water (eventually). But when people ask me what edible wafer paper tastes like, I tell them it doesn’t taste like much.

I would say the best description I can give is that it’s like a communion wafer. It’s a piece of starch that will dissolve in your mouth, but it doesn’t have much of a flavor on its own. When it’s added to a cookie or a cake, the main flavor will come from the sugar in the dessert, not from the paper itself.

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Is wafer paper gluten-free?

Wafer paper is made from potato starch, vegetable oil, and water, so it is gluten-free. In order to prevent cross-contamination, it’s important that wafer paper be used in an area that doesn’t have any type of flour residue in the air.

The type that I use is also rated kosher and vegan, so it’s appropriate for many dietary needs.

How do you use edible wafer paper?

Edible wafer paper can be used for many cake decorating and confectionery uses, including:

Cake wraps to decorate the sides of a cake tier
Making edible flowers
Printing edible images
Decorating cookies
Use for adding a wafer layer to torrone and cookies
Cupcake toppers
Creating edible items like butterflies
Making edible “sails” for cakes
Making edible feathers
Making drink garnishes for floating on top of drinks
Use for details on shaped cakes, like tree leaves, ship sails, or fabric details

Printed wafer paper sheets can be cut to the height of a cake with a regular pair of scissors and wrapped around the cake tier to form a cake wrap that works like wallpaper.

You can also use printed wafer paper cupcake toppers or cake decorations like edible butterflies and press them onto buttercream-covered cakes and cupcakes.

You can apply edible wafer paper to a buttercream cake by pressing the paper onto the cake surface before the icing crusts over.

The thing to remember when decorating buttercream cakes with wafer paper is that the starch in the printed sheet could absorb moisture from the icing, which can cause the wafer paper to wrinkle or warp.

I usually suggest that buttercream cakes be covered in edible paper as close to presentation time as possible so that the paper doesn’t have a lot of time to absorb anything from the icing.

To cover a fondant cake in edible wafer paper, just brush some piping gel or corn syrup onto the cake or the paper, then press the paper onto the cake. This method is less likely to end up with the paper absorbing anything from the icing, but you should still be careful with refrigeration.

To attach wafer paper to cookies, you need a cookie that has a smooth surface like dried royal icing or a layer of fondant. Brush the cookies with some corn syrup and then press the wafer paper to the cookie and let it dry.

Make sure to press the edges of the wafer paper to the surface of the cookie, because they can curl up if they’re not attached well. You can also pipe a decorative layer of icing around the edge of the wafer paper to cover the edge.

For other items like chocolate-covered Oreos or pretzel rods, use some piping gel or corn syrup to attach the wafer paper decorations to the set-up chocolate.

I’ve tried to use melted chocolate to attach wafer paper to things before, and when the chocolate sets up the wafer paper falls off of it.

A dot of corn syrup will attach the paper to the chocolate, but chocolate won’t work.

For buttercream-covered cupcakes, simply press the wafer paper onto the buttercream before the icing crusts over.

If it’s already crusted, a dot of fresh buttercream will work to stick the wafer paper to the crusted icing.

Will wafer paper melt into the icing on a cake?

Wafer paper might attach itself to the icing because the liquids in the icing will grab onto it, but it never really melts. You can peel it off of the cake if you don’t want to eat it since it sits on the surface and stays separate from the icing.

If you use wafer paper for cupcake toppers, like edible butterflies or other cupcake toppers, they can be removed before the cupcake is eaten. On cookies, the wafer paper can just be eaten along with the cookie if it was attached with corn syrup.

Shop for materials to make wafer paper flowers on Amazon (#ad):

What’s the difference? Wafer Paper vs. Icing Sheets.

Wafer paper is different from icing sheets in a few ways. First, it’s a lot less expensive, so you can cover a cake with less expense. Icing sheets cost substantially more than wafer paper, but that doesn’t mean that it’s “better,” necessarily.

Wafer paper is a single sheet without any backing, and you place it directly onto the cake. Icing sheets have a plastic backing sheet that you peel off before attaching the sheet to the cake.

Wafer paper is a little transparent, and icing sheets are a solid white color. Because of that the printing on an icing sheet can often look a little brighter.

The tradeoff, though is that because icing sheets are made from sugar, they can absorb the food coloring inks a little, and the printing can start to bleed a little around the edges if you store them too long.

As I just mentioned, another difference between the two is that wafer paper is made from starch, and icing sheets are made from sugar and other ingredients. They’re usually flavored with artificial vanilla, so they do have a slightly sweet flavor, compared to wafer paper, which doesn’t taste like anything specifically.

When you put wafer paper on the cake, it tends to stay relatively stiff, but an icing sheet can sag a little if the icing is too soft. Putting them on a cake that has really straight and smooth sides will help with this.

The benefit of using the icing sheets is the flavor, but other than that it just depends on what you prefer. I personally think that wafer paper is easier to work with because you don’t have to take it off the backing sheet, and sometimes the icing sheets can stick to the sheet (putting them in the freezer for 5 minutes can help release them.)

Wafer paper is also easier to cut and handle, the icing sheets are floppy and you can’t cut them as easily. However, wafer paper can absorb moisture, and icing sheets are more resistant to that.

How long does wafer paper last?

Wafer paper doesn’t get stale, so it can be stored for years and it will still be usable. However, it’s generally recommended to use it within a few months of printing it to prevent the color from fading.

Wafer paper isn’t something that’s “fresh” or “stale.” It can dry out if it sits around for too long (like for months and months), but that just makes it more brittle, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used.

You should NOT refrigerate wafer paper to store it. It’s not perishable so it doesn’t need to be chilled, and keeping it at room temperature in the sealed bag that it comes in is the safest way to prevent it from being affected by the air humidity.

How do you soften up dry wafer paper?

If you do have wafer paper that’s drying out it can curl up or be too brittle to bend without cracking it. You can condition the paper by putting it in a humid area or in a box with a lid and a wet paper towel. (Don’t let the paper towel touch the wafer paper or it will melt.)

You can also hold the dry wafer paper sheet over steam, moving it around to get some moisture into the paper without melting it. This method can be tricky, though, because it can make the paper curl up if you hold it in one place too long.

Another way to soften wafer paper and make it flexible is to use the wafer paper conditioner spray I came up with. For a complete guide to conditioning wafer paper, this article will help: Wafer paper conditioner roundup, recipes and techniques.

Another recipe and a demo is in this video, and you can use it to make wafer paper into fabric-like sheets that you can drape onto a cake:

Can you cut wafer paper with a Cricut?

You can cut wafer paper with a Cricut or other cutting machines, but because it’s not really paper, it can be difficult to cut evenly. The blades can tear the edges of the paper on corners or curves, so you need to be careful that the blades are sharp.

You can cut wafer paper with regular scissors, or use paper punches to punch out shapes. Sometimes if the air is too dry the paper can be very brittle, so the punched-out pieces might be fragile if there are small parts like on snowflakes.

To hydrate the paper you can wave it over some steam until it absorbs a little moisture and becomes more flexible.

You can also use wafer paper with die-cut machines to create designs that are very precise. Again, be careful of dies that have thin sections, because it’s easy to tear the wafer paper when removing it from the die.

Can you refrigerate edible wafer paper?

Because edible wafer paper is basically a sheet of starch, it’s highly sensitive to moisture, and if it’s too humid it will soften the paper. It’s generally fine to refrigerate wafer paper that’s on a cake for short amounts of time, but if the humidity in the fridge is too high, the paper can absorb that moisture and warp.

Home refrigerators can be okay to store a cake that’s decorated with wafer paper overnight, but I’ve seen some cakes that ended up with a warped wafer paper image because the printed wafer paper sheet absorbed the moisture from the refrigerator.

Commercial refrigerators tend to be more humid than home fridges, so it’s really not recommended to put wafer paper in those.

I would do a test to see if the refrigerator is too humid for the paper by leaving a sheet of edible wafer paper in the fridge for a day to see if it gets very soft, or if it seems to be unaffected. Since refrigerators vary, a trial run is probably the safest option.

Also be aware that if the humidity OUTSIDE of the fridge is high, the cake can form condensation when it’s removed from the fridge. If that happens, the wafer paper on the cake can absorb that condensation and soften or warp, so be aware that could happen.

I recommend that the wafer paper be applied to the cake close to serving time so that the paper doesn’t have a lot of time to absorb anything.

It doesn’t take long to decorate a cake with wafer paper, so waiting to apply a cake wrap, or to put edible wafer paper butterflies onto the cake is a simple way to make sure the wafer paper decorations stay looking the way they’re supposed to.

How do you color wafer paper?

To best way to color wafer paper is by using an edible ink printer, which is designed to apply an edible ink evenly on the paper. You can also apply color to the paper by hand with dry colors like petal dusts, or by airbrushing it lightly, but those methods tend to result in uneven colors.

One way to color wafer paper without a printer is to rub a powdered color or petal dusts onto the paper. If you rub some shortening onto the paper before the powdered color, the colors will be brighter. They might also be blotchy, so it may not give you the effect that you’re looking for.

You can also airbrush wafer paper as long as you use very light layers of color. Too much liquid on the paper will dissolve it, so you can build up layers of color a bit at a time.

To do that, you should attach the paper to a board of some sort to keep it from curling while it’s being airbrushed. I used to pin the paper to a plastic board to airbrush color onto it, then I would let it dry on the board. That way the paper dries flat.

Coloring wafer paper without a printer can leave it very brittle since the color can be absorbed into the paper and make it stiff. It’s always better to use a printer unless you want a specific effect, like curled leaves or peony petals.

How do you print on edible wafer paper?

Edible wafer paper is printed using a regular printer that’s only been used for food printing. The ink cartridges are full of FDA-approved food coloring inks that are specially formulated to use in the printer.

Food coloring edible inks are different from regular printer ink because they don’t contain the toxic chemicals that regular printer inks use to keep the printer heads clean.

Because of that, edible ink printers get clogged pretty easily, and you have to use them regularly to keep that from happening. Even with regular use, they tend to conk out a lot, so the main challenge of edible ink printing is keeping the printers working correctly!

You can’t use a regular printer that’s had regular ink used in it to print edible wafer paper even if you switch the ink cartridges. Once the regular ink chemicals have flowed through the printer head, the printer isn’t food-safe. So you can’t change a home printer to a food-use printer, you need to get a new printer and start from scratch with the edible ink cartridges.

Edible wafer paper has a rough side and a smooth side. You can print on either side, but I generally use the smooth side to print on.

You can also use edible markers to write on wafer paper, but if it gets too wet because the marker was held in one spot too long, or too much ink was colored on in one spot, the paper can dissolve in that spot.

Using an edible ink printer is the best way to get a consistent color without dissolving the paper, but rubbing color onto the paper, or airbrushing it on with a light spray, then allowing the paper to dry, can also add some color to the paper.