What Is Icing Paper?

Icing paper — sometimes called frosting sheets, sugar sheets, or edible icing sheets — is a type of edible paper made primarily from sugar, starch, and vegetable shortening. The result is a smooth, opaque, slightly flexible sheet that looks a lot like a thin layer of fondant or matte icing.

Because the surface is bright white and non-porous, it accepts edible food coloring inks exceptionally well. Colors print true-to-life, photographs come out sharp and vivid, and the overall result is a professional, polished finish that instantly elevates any cake or cupcake.

Icing sheets are typically available in full sheet, half sheet, and A4 sizes, and they're the standard choice for any bakery or home baker who wants to print custom edible images for cakes, cookies, macarons, and cupcake toppers.

How Is Icing Paper Made?

Manufacturers blend sugar, modified starch, glycerin, and water into a thin paste that's spread onto a food-safe backing sheet and dried at low heat. The backing sheet peels away cleanly, leaving behind a flexible, smooth icing sheet ready for printing or hand-application. The best quality icing sheets — like those available from Custom Edible Sheets — are made without artificial preservatives and are certified food-safe.

What Is Wafer Paper?

Wafer paper is an edible paper made from potato starch, water, and vegetable oil. It's been used in confectionery for centuries — you may have seen it used to wrap nougat or as the base of certain candies. In modern cake decorating, it's found a second life as a creative medium for sugar artists and professional decorators.

Unlike icing paper, wafer paper is very thin, translucent, and almost neutral in flavor. It's also much more rigid when dry, which is what makes it ideal for shaping and sculpting. It can be cut, curled, painted, folded, or frilled to create stunning three-dimensional decorations like wafer paper flowers, butterflies, feathers, fans, and sails.

Wafer paper comes in different thicknesses — typically 0.27mm and 0.65mm — and can be purchased plain or pre-printed. It is also available in rectangular sheets and pre-cut shapes.

Which Is Better for Edible Printing?

If you're printing custom edible images — photographs, logos, cartoon characters, or intricate patterns — icing paper wins by a wide margin. Here's why:

The sugar-based surface of icing paper is smooth, non-porous, and bright white. This creates an ideal canvas for edible food coloring inks. Colors sit on the surface rather than being absorbed into it, resulting in sharp lines, accurate hues, and vivid, photo-quality results. If you've ever seen a beautifully detailed edible image on a wedding cake, it was almost certainly printed on icing paper.

Wafer paper, on the other hand, has a slightly rougher texture and is partially translucent. Colors printed on wafer paper tend to look washed out, duller, or inconsistent because the ink partially absorbs into the porous surface and the translucency reduces contrast. For simple text or basic graphics with bold colors, wafer paper printing can be acceptable — but for anything with fine detail or photographic quality, it falls short.

Texture and Taste: What to Expect

Icing Paper on the Palate

Because icing paper is made from sugar, it dissolves pleasantly in the mouth — much like a thin layer of fondant or a dry fondant accent. Most guests don't even notice it's there, or they simply enjoy the subtle sweetness it adds. When applied to buttercream, icing paper softens slightly and blends into the frosting seamlessly. There's no chewy or gummy texture.

Wafer Paper on the Palate

Wafer paper has a distinctly different mouthfeel. When dry, it's slightly crispy and can feel papery to the tongue. When it absorbs moisture from a cake surface, it softens and becomes more neutral. Either way, its taste is almost completely neutral — more of a textural element than a flavor one. For decorations like flowers that sit above the cake, guests may not eat the wafer paper at all and simply remove it.

Some bakers brush wafer paper with clear piping gel or edible glaze to soften it and add a gentle sheen without making it soggy. This technique helps wafer paper decorations look polished and professional on the finished cake.

Best Use Cases: When to Use Each

The right choice ultimately comes down to what you're creating. Here's a practical breakdown to guide your decision.

Pro Tips for Using Edible Paper

Tips for Icing Paper

Store it sealed until the moment you apply it. Icing paper is sensitive to humidity — once exposed to air, the edges can dry out and become brittle or crack. Remove it from the backing only when your cake is ready.

Apply it to a smooth, freshly set surface. Buttercream and ganache work best when they've been briefly chilled and have a slight skin. Fondant-covered cakes should have a thin layer of piping gel applied first to help the icing sheet adhere cleanly without air bubbles.

Smooth it from the center outward. Place the icing sheet face-down gently in the center of your cake and use a flat spatula or your palm to smooth it toward the edges, removing any air pockets as you go.

Tips for Wafer Paper

Work quickly in dry conditions. Wafer paper is highly sensitive to humidity. If your kitchen is very humid, wafer paper can wilt during the crafting process. Use a dehumidifier or work in an air-conditioned space for best results.

Use tylose glue or edible glue for joining pieces. When creating wafer paper flowers, attach petals using a small amount of tylose glue (CMC paste) rather than water, which can dissolve and weaken the paper.

Let sculptural pieces dry fully before placing on the cake. Wafer paper flowers and other 3D decorations should be allowed to dry for several hours or overnight before they're positioned on the cake. This ensures they hold their shape and don't collapse under their own weight.