Edible Ink Printing

Edible ink printing is the process of creating preprinted images with edible food colors onto confectionery products such as cookies, cakes and pastries. In the traditional method, called an edible topper, a design is printed onto an edible sheet, such as sugar paper, a frosting sheet or wafer paper, using edible ink, and the printed sheet is then cut and applied to the surface of a cake, cookie or other dessert. A newer method, direct to food printing or food jet printing, applies edible ink straight onto the surface of the food or beverage itself rather than through a carrier sheet, and is used on coffee foam, cocktails or other foamy drinks, cookies, macarons and other firm desserts.