How To Apply Wafer Paper To Buttercream Cakes

Wafer paper has become more popular for both cake flowers and to apply to buttercream and fondant cakes for decorations.

Most people will put wafer paper onto fondant cakes, but it’s possible to apply wafer paper to buttercream if you follow some basic guidelines.

This article includes affiliate links that will pay a commission if they’re used to purchase something. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What is wafer paper?

Wafer paper is basically a sheet of starch, not real paper. It’s made from potato starch, vegetable oil, and water, and it’s formed into sheets that can be printed on with food coloring inks, then attached to cakes or made into edible flowers or other decorations.

If you keep this in mind, it will make using wafer paper easier and less confusing. Starch attracts water and gets mushy when it absorbs water, so working with dry hands is important when you handle wafer paper.

Anything water-based that you put on wafer paper can be absorbed into it and soften it. On the other hand, anything that’s oil-based can keep soften the paper, but will keep water off of it for a while, so that can keep it from melting.

Since buttercream icing has a high fat content, wafer paper can stand up to it for a long time. BUT…It also contains some water, and it can soften the paper.

It’s a balance to figure out how long the wafer paper will last on a buttercream cake before it softens or warps.

Another issue with buttercream is that it might need to be refrigerated, and that can affect the wafer paper in different ways.

For my complete guide to wafer paper, click here.

Can you put wafer paper in the fridge on a buttercream cake?

You can refrigerate wafer paper for a certain amount of time, but if the refrigerator is humid the moisture in the air can be absorbed into the starch of the sheet and warp it.

Most home fridges aren’t humid enough to damage the paper that way, but it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen if you refrigerate the paper.

The other thing to consider is whether the air outside the refrigerator is warm and humid or not. If the cake is refrigerated and is cold, then is put out to warm up at room temperature, it can develop condensation on it as it warms up.

That can be absorbed into the wafer paper and warp it after it spent the entire time in the fridge NOT being damaged!

One way to try to prevent this is to put the cake in a box when it’s removed from the fridge. That way if condensation does develop, it might stay on the outside of the box and minimize any damage.

The slower the cake warms up, the less likely it will be that condensation will develop.

Something to note is that this can happen on both buttercream and fondant cakes, so it’s not just something that buttercream does.

Buttercream cakes might be easier to use at room temperature when you attach the wafer paper to it, because it will stick directly to the icing when you press it on.

Once you decide whether you want or need to refrigerate your cake or not, you can decide about applying the wafer paper to the cake surface.

How to attach wafer paper toppers to cupcakes

To attach wafer paper toppers to buttercream-covered cupcakes, you should be able to just press the topper directly onto the icing to get them to stick.

If the buttercream has crusted over, and isn’t sticky anymore, you may need to use some fresh buttercream as glue to attach the toppers to the cupcakes.

If you don’t have extra buttercream, you can also roughen the buttercream that’s crusted a little bit to reveal the softer buttercream underneath it, and that should be sticky enough to grab onto the wafer paper topper.

You can also attach wafer paper to fondant discs if you have round wafer paper toppers, using some piping gel or corn syrup. Those can be dried and then placed on top of the cupcakes so that the disc keeps its shape on top of the cupcakes.

This is a good way to prepare the toppers if you’re going to have to decorate the cupcakes ahead of time, since you’ll know that the wafer paper will be kept in shape and won’t bend or warp from moisture.

How to attach wafer paper to buttercream

To attach a wafer paper sheet to buttercream that’s at room temperature and not crusted over, ice the cake with the icing and make sure that the sides of the cake are smooth and straight.

Cut the wafer paper to the height of the cake tier, then carefully press the wafer paper onto the icing, starting from one edge and working your way around the cake.

To overlap the edges of the paper, apply a thin layer of corn syrup to the edge of one strip and attach the next one to form a continuous strip.

wetting the edges of the paper to attach them together

attach pieces together to make a long strip

You can also figure out the circumference of the cake, then create a strip that’s as long as that before putting it around the cake.

That way you’ll have the prepared length that you’ll need without having to attach the sheets while you’re also wrapping the tier.

Making sure that the sides of the cake tier are straight up and down and not angled in or out will help to wrap the paper around the tier evenly.

If the sides of the tier aren’t perfectly upright, it can be difficult to fit the paper to the tier exactly, so be on the lookout for sections where there may be gaps between the cake and the paper.

If you do have a cake tier that’s really angled in or out, it’s probably best to re-ice the cake to make it straighter. The sides of the cake need to be as close to a 90-degree angle compared to the base of the cake as possible to get the paper to lay flat on the sides.

If the icing is crusted over but the cake is at room temperature, you may have to apply a thin coat of fresh buttercream to the back of the paper, then press that onto the cake. This will act as glue, and the paper will stick onto the icing without having to wet the paper.

You could also brush a thin layer of corn syrup onto the back of the paper, then attach it to the crusted buttercream. You only need a small amount of corn syrup for this, think of it as making a sticker for the cake. Too thick a layer can end up being drippy.

If the cake is cold and has been refrigerated, you can probably still attach the wafer paper directly to it, but you may have to attach it using a little corn syrup to start.

If the cake develops some condensation when it sits at room temperature, you should be able to press the wafer paper directly onto the cake to make it stick. Make sure that there isn’t a large amount of condensation, though, because it can warp the paper.

A cold cake will be easier to press the paper onto, but the possibility of moisture melting the paper is something that you’ll have to take into consideration.

Click to see my list of cake decorating and baking supplies in my Amazon shop.

After covering the cake

After you cover the cake with the paper, you’ll need to either leave the cake at room temperature or refrigerate it. Again, make sure that the humidity isn’t an issue for taking the cake in and out of the fridge if it can damage the paper.

It’s usually safer to leave the cake at room temperature after the paper has been applied to the cake so that you don’t even have to worry about it.

If you do have to refrigerate the cake, you might want to do a trial run with some icing and some wafer paper to see what happens to it when you take it out of the fridge.

Spread some icing on a sheet pan, then stick the wafer paper to it and refrigerate it to see how it behaves in the fridge overnight, then what happens when you take it out.

Do this a few days ahead of decorating the cake so that you can make decisions about how to handle it.

Attaching wafer paper to SMBC, IMBC, and Ganache

Cakes that are covered with Swiss meringue buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream, or ganache can also be wrapped with wafer paper. If they’re at room temperature you can press the paper onto the cake tier the same way that you would attach it to a crusting buttercream.

If they’re refrigerated and the surface of the icing is hardened, it might be enough to press the paper onto the cake and stick it on with the warmth of your hand on the paper.

If the cake surface is very hard it might require rubbing the paper gently until the surface of the icing warms up and softens enough to grab onto the paper. Make sure that your hands are dry and clean, and rub the paper onto the cake until it holds.

After wrapping the strips of paper around the cake, cut the excess paper off and attach the ends of the paper strip together using a little piping gel, corn syrup, or water.

The ends of the paper will grab onto each other and finish covering the cake tier.

Covering a buttercream cake with wafer paper is a fast way to decorate a cake, and it’s easy for even a cake decorating beginner to do.

As long as you take precautions against moisture getting into the paper, you’ll be able to decorate a cake quickly and easily, and it will look professional enough to impress your party guests!

Wafer paper supply list:

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