Edible ink printing

Edible image on a birthday cake with the Hebrew expression Mazal Tov

Edible ink printing, is the process of creating preprinted images with edible food colors on to various confectionery products such as cookies, cakes, or pastries. Edible Image designs can either be preprinted, or created with an edible printer, a specialty device which transfers an image onto a thin, edible paper. The paper is made of starches and sugars and printed on with edible food colors. Some Edible Image designs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and carry its Generally Recognized as Safe certification. High quality images retain color clarity and resist color bleeding, even on high moisture applications.

Edible paper is the paper used in edible ink printing. The first papers of this process used rice paper, while modern versions use frosting sheets. It may be consumed without harsh effects on a normal human digestive system. Usually, the paper has no flavor and very little texture. The paper is firm enough to be printed on in a standard printer. However, the paper dissolves quickly when brought in contact with moist frosting. The end effect is that the image (usually a photograph) on the paper appears to be printed on the icing.

While the paper is edible, not all printer inks are edible. Ink that is not specifically marketed as being edible may be harmful or fatal if swallowed. Edible toner for laser printers is not currently available. Any inkjet or bubblejet printer can be used to print, although resolution may be poor, and care should be taken to avoid contaminating the edible inks with previously used inks. Inkjet or bubblejet printers can be converted to print using edible ink, and cartridges of edible ink are commercially available.

Some edible inks are powdered, but if they are easily soluble in water they can also be used as any other edible ink without reducing quality. Edible paper is used on cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and even marshmallows (in Africa during the holidays).