1. Spread Clear piping Gel thinly over the print. A small angled spatula works best for this. I don't advise using a brush because you can't spread the piping gel thin enough.
2. Let them dry for a short time...2-6 hours. If piping gel is spread too thick, they won't dry for days!
3. If you dry them too long...2-3 weeks, they may crack. But it would be okay to wait and cut them within a day or two.
4. Using very thin-bladed or cuticle scissors, cut them out.

CAKES PICTURED WITH LEAVES

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DIRECTIONS
Using an angled spatula, spread a thin layer of piping gel over the sheet. Let dry 3-4 hours or overnight, then cut them out. You can then bend the leaf into a more realistic position. A stem could be added to the back using a florist wire BEFORE spreading the piping gel on. As you cut them out they are going to curl some and look more real! If you can, it is nice to hold them over steaming water and make them curl naturally, if you do this you don't use piping gel. Otherwise, spread piping gel on one side, let dry 2-3 days, then turn the sheet over and also spread piping gel on the back. Let dry again. If you are going to curl them you will probably also want to color the backs similar to the front. The back of a leaf is usually not as colorful, so it won't matter too much if it isn't perfect. If you have leaves you prefer other than these, please email Dolores.

TO ADD WIRE:
 Wrap wire with green floral tape. Be sure, when wrapping, that you hold the tape in an angle so you don't get unsightly thickness. Cut out the leaf shape. Mist BACK lightly with 80 proof Vodka in a spray fine bottle or microwave 5 seconds to soften the wafer paper. (Maybe you can use lemon extract…I don't know.) I think water will hold it but I made no notes for that. Fold in half length-wise, rough sides together. Add wire to fold. Pat leaf down, opening, rough side up.  Lay wax paper strip over leaf to protect wire. Put between wax paper & lay a book on it so it will dry flat.

Q. I bought some great wafer leaves to use on a wedding cake I'm doing next week and I need some tips. I need advice first on wether I should use piping gel on them or not.
The piping gel seems to deepen the color, which I like a lot. But I'm wondering how much dimension I'll be able to get with them that way?

I don't want the leaves to lay mostly flat on the cake, I'll be making little 'piles' of them here and there on the cake tiers and then another 'pile' all around the base of the cake. I tried cutting one out and curling it over steam. Worked fairly well, I was even able to reform parts that I didn't like the way they curled the first time by letting it dry and steaming it again. The leaf looks pretty dry though, I think I prefer the look of the piping gel leaves....

But I like the fact that the non-gelled ones curl like real leaves... I put gel on a few of them and waited over a day to turn them over and gel the other side. They weren't tacky to the touch anymore (though they were still soft) but I guess they weren't dry enough because they stuck to the cookie sheet I was using to lay them on and completly ruined them. Think I put too much gel on? How much do you need and how will they feel when they're dry enough? Will I be able to form these at least a bit to give them a little dimension or will they be pretty much flat? Sorry for all the questions, I've never used these before and want to get it right! Thanks, Karen.
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A. This is fun! For using gel, try folding the leaf in half after it is dry. Not too much but will make
        it look more real.
        Holding over steam: I did that with a scroll and I curled it around a pencil. That may be an
        idea with leaves too.

        Then I thought - I don't know - never tried this. But I wonder if you can spread a very thin
        skim of Crisco on the leaf, then hold it over one of those steam things (melts the Crisco and
        makes it shiny. I know this works with gumpaste but I don't know if it works with wafer
        paper. Then, maybe you won't even need to steam wafer paper. Maybe the Crisco would
        make the leaf more shiny and natural looking without steaming it even.

       PLEASE - let us know if you try this! I wish I had time to 'play'!

I guess I would get some leaves printed, lay them out and see how they work. Cakes are no more than 5" high and allow 5" for any seperations. You can always order more - OR if too many are ordered, place them around the cake  on the table.

Larger  By Michelle Instructions

larger By Kathie Westlund how many?

larger By Rebecca Cepeda She volunteered that she used 4 sheets of leaves. The mushrooms and acorns were made from marzipan, and I ended up not using the piping gel on the leaves, which made it even easier.

larger BY GEORGE

larger

More information HERE

The note below is Karen's first experience with these leaves. She gave us some new ideas I wanted to share with all of you.
          Hi Dolores (& everyone else! ;-) Thanks so much for your help with the leaves. Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you, I was very busy with 2 wedding cakes this past weekend (plus my kids were in one of the weddings, plus it was Thanksgiving up here!!).

         Anyway, I didn't end up coating them with the shortening but your suggestion did give me the idea to use non-stick spray to coat the plate I put the sheets on to dry. It kept the sheet from sticking to the plate (if there was piping gel on the very edge for example). I spread the piping gel on very thin and that helped a lot. I found the non-stick spray was useful as well because when I flipped the sheet to do the other side I didn't have to worry about it sticking if the gel wasn't completly dry.
        I made sure both sides had a little spray on them (I didn't spray them directly though, I just rubbed them lightly on the plate that had previously been sprayed) before cutting them out and that helped a lot too. Before I did that I found they would stick to my fingers and the scissors. Another tip I learned; don't scrape too hard when removing excess piping gel... it can actually scrape the color right off the wafer paper! I have a picture of the finished cake if you'd like to see it, but I'm not sure how to post it....
       Thanks again, the cake was a big hit! Everyone just loved the leaves and most thought they were leaves! They were all amazed when I told them they were edible! Karen.
       Oh, and I forgot to mention that I ended up steaming them even with the piping gel on them. Worked well to get them to curl a little bit. I could even play with them a little to get the shape I wanted. They do get really sticky when doing that but they re-dry very quickly.  Seriously everyone thought they were real leaves! Karen.

From Dolores:
          Thats interesting about the shortening spray. Which brand did you use? There is so much dif. between brands as to how much sprays out. Also interestinf about how you curled the leaves with the gel on them.

          One other thing, I think it would look nice to fold them where the stem is in the center so they are a better shape. Kinda like the feathers instructions. Shirley Manbeck devised those and she used fine covered florist wire (like we sell for gumpaste flower wiring) - to make stems. (Of course hers was the 'quil'.)

        I just used plain old Pam cooking spray. I didn't spray it directly on the leaves though, I think that would have been overkill. I just sprayed it on the plates so the sheets wouldn't stick. Then when I was cutting the leaves out they would always stick to my hands and the scissors (though if I'd had time to leave them dry longer maybe that would have been avoided).
       Then I had the idea to rub the leaf on the sprayed plate and it worked great. I did sometimes have to wipe the leaf down a bit though, sometimes they were too greasy/shiny. Overall it worked great though, made them much easier to handle. Great tip about folding them along the stem! I'll have to remember that for next time! Thanks for making such great products available to us! I never would have been able to find anything remotely like it up here in Canada!! Karen

For Michelle's cake above:
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