How to Write on a Cake with Edible Pens: A Step-by-Step Guide

Whether you’re decorating a birthday cake, celebration cake, or cupcakes, adding a personalised message can transform your bake in an instant and add an extra special touch. While piping icing can take practice, edible pens give you a simple and effective way to create lettering, personalised messages, and even viral hand-drawn doodle cake designs directly onto your cake.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to write on a cake using edible pens, along with tips for achieving smooth looking results every time.

The Viral Hand-Drawn Doodle Cake Trend 

If you’ve spent any amount of time on TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest recently, you’ve probably noticed hand-drawn doodle cakes everywhere. Inspired by sketchbook illustrations and cartoon-style artwork, these cakes use edible markers to create playful designs directly onto sugarpaste covered cakes.

With this doodle cake trend, you don’t need advanced cake decorating skills. A smooth fondant covered cake and a set of edible pens are all you need to create a unique design. Popular doodle cake designs include:

• Birthday messages
• Stars
• Hearts
• Smiley faces
• Flowers
• Bows and ribbons
• Confetti patterns
• Cartoon-style outlines

By using various coloured cake craft pens, you can easily transform a plain white cake into a fun, personalised celebration cake in just a few minutes!

Ready to try the trend yourself? Watch our step-by-step guide video showing how to turn a simple store-bought cake into a colourful doodle cake using our Cake Craft Pens.

Why Doodle Cakes Are Perfect for Beginners 

Unlike detailed piping techniques, doodle cakes are hand-drawn and playful. Small imperfections often add to the charm, making them a fantastic decorating project for beginners and children. A simple store-bought cake covered in fondant can quickly become a social media worthy celebration cake with just a few doodles, colourful messages, and fun creative details.

What are edible cake pens?

Edible cake pens, sometimes called edible markers or food pens, are specially designed for decorating cakes. Filled with food-safe edible ink, they allow you to draw, doodle, write, and add fun details just like using a regular marker.

Made in the UK, Rainbow Dust Cake Craft Pens come in a range of colours, making them perfect for personalising cakes, creating doodle-style designs, and adding finishing touches to fondant decorations.

What surfaces can you write on?

To ensure best results, edible pens work best on smooth, dry surfaces. Ideal surfaces include:

• Fondant icing
• Sugarpaste decorations
• Modelling paste
• Wafer paper

A dry surface helps the edible ink flow smoothly and prevents smudging.

How to write on a cake with edible pens

Step 1: Prepare your cake

Make sure the cake is covered in smooth sugarpaste. If the surface feels sticky, allow it to air dry before decorating.

Step 2: Plan your message

Before writing directly onto the cake, decide on your wording and placement. Popular messages include:

• Happy Birthday!
• Congratulations!
• Baby Shower
• Thank you
• Best Dad Ever

Top tip: if you want to keep your writing straight, lightly mark the guidelines using a toothpick.

Step 3: Practise first

If you’re apprehensive about directly writing onto the cake, practise on a spare piece of fondant first.

Step 4: Write slowly and steadily

Hold the pen as you would a normal writing pen and use light pressure. 

Step 5: Add decorative details

Once your message is complete, use different pen colours to add decorative details such as:

• Stars
• Hearts
• Balloons
• Doodles
• Borders
• Flowers

This is really effective for the viral hand-drawn doodle cake trend.

Tips for perfect cake writing

Use a smooth surface - the smooth the fondant, the cleaner your letting will look.

Let fondant dry - fresh fondant can sometimes be too soft. Allowing it to fully dry will improve the ink flow.

Keep pens stored correctly - always replace the cap after use and store pens horizontally.

Less is more - short messages look more professional and leave space for decorative details.

Creative ways to use edible markers

Edible pens aren’t just for writing messages, try using them to create:

• Doodle cakes
• Cartoon-style cakes
• Character faces
• Cookie decorating
• Cake toppers
• Personalised cupcake toppers
• Wedding cookie favours

Once you’ve mastered writing messages on cakes, edible pens can be used for much more than names and greetings. One of the biggest cake decorating trends right now is the hand-drawn doodle cake. This is where colourful illustrations, outlines, and handwritten details transform a simple cake into a personalised centrepiece.

Looking for some inspiration? See how we transformed a plain store-bought cake into a viral doodle-style design in our guide to transforming shop-bought cakes into showstopping celebration cakes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you write directly onto fondant?

Yes. Fondant or sugarpaste is one of the best surfaces for edible pens because it provides a smooth, dry finish.

Can you edible pens on buttercream?

Edible cake pens work best on firm, dry surfaces. 

How do you fix mistakes when writing on a cake?

Small mistakes can sometimes be covered with decorative elements such as hearts, flowers, or additional doodles. For larger mistakes, you could add a fresh sugarpaste plaque and place it over the area.

Are edible pens safe to eat?

Yes, edible cake pens are made with food-grade ingredients and are designed for decorating edible treats.

Personalise your cakes with Rainbow Dust Cake Craft Pens 

Whether you’re writing a happy birthday message, creating a trendy doodle cake, or adding fine decorative details, our Cake Craft Pens make it easy to achieve colourful, professional-looking results at home. Explore the full Cake Craft Pen range and start adding your own creative touch to your bakes!