Why Kristina Lavallee Uses the Icing Images Big Blue XL Food Printer

At The Cake Girl®, technology isn’t replacing creativity — it’s giving our cake artists more time for it.

As the founder and celebrity cake artist behind The Cake Girl in Tampa, Florida, Kristina Lavallee has spent years creating everything from intricate birthday and wedding cakes to 3D sculpted designs and large-scale corporate creations. Running a busy custom bakery has also taught her something every professional cake decorator eventually learns: time matters.

That’s one reason Kristina loves using the Icing Images Big Blue XL Food Printer. The direct-to-food printer allows The Cake Girl team to print detailed edible designs directly onto compatible cakes and desserts, opening up new creative possibilities while helping decorators work more efficiently.

For Kristina, that’s the perfect combination: using technology to handle certain time-consuming or highly repetitive elements while giving talented cake artists more time to focus on the creativity and craftsmanship that truly require their hands.

What Food Printer Does The Cake Girl Use?

The Cake Girl uses the Icing Images Big Blue XL Food Printer for select custom cake projects, including detailed patterns, corporate logos, branded designs and other elements that benefit from direct-to-food printing.

Designed for professional production, the Big Blue XL features two printheads and a large print bed capable of accommodating a full sheet cake. Instead of printing an image onto a separate icing sheet and then applying it to a cake, direct-to-food technology can print edible designs directly onto compatible food surfaces.

For a custom bakery producing everything from individual celebration cakes to major corporate projects, that capability can be a game changer.

What Is the Icing Images Big Blue XL?

The Big Blue XL is a professional direct-to-food production printer made by Icing Images. Its print bed measures 26.25 inches by 21.5 inches, with a printable area of approximately 25.59 inches by 19.69 inches. It can accommodate compatible food products up to 7.5 inches high and uses two printheads.

The size is particularly important for The Cake Girl. The Big Blue XL has enough printing area to accommodate a full sheet cake, giving the team significantly more flexibility when working on larger designs.

While the technology itself is impressive, Kristina believes its biggest benefit isn't simply what the machine can print. It's what the technology allows her cake artists to spend their time doing instead.

Why Kristina Loves Direct-to-Cake Printing

Kristina has always believed technology should help cake artists become more creative, not less. The Big Blue XL is a perfect example of that philosophy.

Some custom cake designs involve repeating patterns, intricate graphics, corporate logos, monograms or highly precise elements that can take a decorator hours to reproduce completely by hand. Direct edible printing gives the team another way to approach those elements while still finishing and elevating the cake using traditional decorating techniques.

Instead of spending valuable decorating time reproducing every repetitive element individually, the team can spend more of that time sculpting, piping, working with fondant, creating dimensional pieces and adding the handmade details that bring a custom cake to life.

For Kristina, that isn't taking craftsmanship away from cake decorating. It's using the right tool for the right job.

How the Big Blue XL Saves Time in a Professional Bakery

Time is one of the most valuable resources in any bakery. A custom cake can involve baking, filling, icing, stacking, carving, covering, decorating, detailing and packaging — sometimes with multiple members of the team working on different stages of the same project.

Now imagine a cake that requires an intricate pattern across a large surface or dozens of identical branded elements. Reproducing every detail individually can add significant decorating time.

With direct-to-food printing, certain designs can be prepared digitally and printed directly onto compatible cake surfaces. The decorator can then build upon that printed foundation with dimensional elements, piping, sculpting, fondant and finishing touches.

On one cake, the time savings can be significant. Across dozens of custom orders and large corporate projects, greater efficiency can completely change the way a professional bakery approaches production.

Consistency Matters Just as Much as Speed

Saving time isn't the only advantage. In a professional custom bakery, consistency can be just as important — especially when working with corporate clients and branded events.

If a company provides The Cake Girl with its logo, that logo needs to look like its logo. Proportions, details and brand presentation matter. Direct edible printing gives the team another tool for reproducing detailed branded elements with a level of consistency that could be extremely time-consuming to reproduce entirely by hand.

The same principle applies to repeating patterns. If a cake requires the same design element 20, 40 or even 100 times, edible printing can help maintain consistency across the project while allowing decorators to concentrate on the creative details surrounding those elements.

Where the Big Blue XL Really Shines

One of the reasons the Big Blue XL works so well for The Cake Girl is its size and production capability.

The printer has a 26.25-inch by 21.5-inch bed and enough printable area to accommodate a full sheet cake. Its dual printheads are designed for larger-volume production, making it a professional tool rather than simply a small edible image printer.

That matters because The Cake Girl doesn't only create traditional birthday cakes. The team regularly tackles custom corporate, event and specialty projects that can require substantial surface area, intricate patterns and numerous design elements.

Having a production-level direct-to-food printer gives the team another option when determining the best way to execute those projects efficiently without sacrificing the finished design.

Does Edible Printing Replace Cake Artists?

Absolutely not.

A food printer can't decide what a cake should look like. It doesn't understand composition, proportion, texture or whether a design needs another element to make it visually balanced. It can't sculpt a character, pipe the perfect border or take a customer's inspiration and figure out how to transform it into a cake that makes everyone at the party stop and take a picture.

Those decisions still come from an artist.

The Big Blue XL is another tool in the decorator's toolbox. Great equipment doesn't replace talented cake artists any more than professional equipment replaces talented chefs. It allows skilled professionals to approach certain parts of their work more efficiently and consistently.

Cake decorating is no different.

How Direct-to-Food Printing Can Create More Creativity

One of the most exciting things about direct edible printing is the creative freedom it can provide. Once you're able to print detailed edible artwork directly onto a compatible cake surface, you begin looking at designs differently.

A pattern that might have been impractical to execute entirely by hand suddenly becomes possible. A corporate logo can be incorporated into a larger design. Printed elements can become the foundation for additional hand decorating using piping, fondant, texture, sculpted pieces and other dimensional details.

That combination is where Kristina believes the technology becomes especially exciting.

The printer doesn't have to create the finished cake. It can create the canvas the cake artist builds upon.

Why Technology Matters as The Cake Girl Grows

The Cake Girl started with Kristina baking from home in 2008. As the business grew from home baking to local events, a dessert truck and eventually a brick-and-mortar bakery in Tampa, the way the team produced cakes had to evolve along with it.

Running a professional bakery isn't simply about making beautiful cakes. It's about finding ways to maintain quality, consistency and creativity while producing more of them. That requires talented people, strong systems and the right equipment.

Tools like the Icing Images Big Blue XL help The Cake Girl team work more efficiently without giving up the handmade details and creativity that built the brand in the first place.

Ultimately, that's why Kristina loves using it. The goal isn't to have a machine make the cake.

It's to give talented cake artists more time to do what talented cake artists do best — create.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Icing Images Big Blue XL

What food printer does The Cake Girl use?

The Cake Girl uses the Icing Images Big Blue XL Production Food Printer for select custom cake projects. Its direct-to-food printing capabilities are particularly useful for detailed patterns, corporate logos, branded designs and other elements that benefit from precision and consistency.

What is the Icing Images Big Blue XL?

The Big Blue XL is a professional direct-to-food production printer from Icing Images. It uses edible inks to print designs directly onto compatible food surfaces and is designed for larger-volume professional production.

Can the Big Blue XL print directly onto cakes?

Yes. The Icing Images Big Blue XL can print edible designs directly onto compatible cake surfaces and other food products, eliminating the need for a separate edible icing sheet in applications where direct-to-food printing is appropriate.

How large is the Big Blue XL food printer?

The Big Blue XL has a 26.25-inch by 21.5-inch print bed with a printable area of approximately 25.59 inches by 19.69 inches. Its printable height is 7.5 inches, and its printing area can accommodate a full sheet cake.

Does the Big Blue XL have two printheads?

Yes. The Icing Images Big Blue XL is equipped with two printheads and is designed as a production food printer for businesses that need larger-volume output.

How does edible printing save cake decorators time?

Direct edible printing can reduce the amount of time required to reproduce detailed graphics, repeating patterns, logos and other precise design elements by hand. This allows cake decorators to spend more production time on sculpting, piping, fondant work, dimensional elements and finishing details.

Can you print a company logo directly onto a cake?

Direct-to-food printing can be an excellent option for certain corporate cake designs because detailed logos and graphics can be printed directly onto compatible food surfaces. At The Cake Girl, printed elements can then be combined with traditional decorating techniques to create a fully customized finished design.

Does edible printing replace hand decorating?

No. At The Cake Girl, edible printing is used as another tool for professional cake artists. The overall concept, composition, sculpting, dimensional details and finishing work still depend heavily on the creativity, experience and skill of the decorating team.

Why does The Cake Girl use the Icing Images Big Blue XL?

The Cake Girl uses the Big Blue XL because it can help the decorating team save production time, improve consistency and expand what's creatively possible on certain custom cake projects. Its large printing area and production capabilities are particularly useful for branded cakes, repeating patterns and larger custom projects.

Is the Big Blue XL good for a professional bakery?

The Big Blue XL is specifically positioned by Icing Images as a production food printer designed for larger-volume work. For a professional custom bakery like The Cake Girl, its larger printing area and dual printheads make it useful for projects where efficiency, scale and consistency are important.

About Kristina Lavallee and The Cake Girl

Kristina Lavallee is the founder, CEO and celebrity cake artist behind The Cake Girl®, an award-winning custom cake and dessert company based in Tampa, Florida. Named to the 2026 Inc. Female Founders 500, Kristina is a nationally recognized cake artist, baking expert and entrepreneur whose work and expertise have been featured by Food Network, TODAY, FOX & Friends, Telemundo's Hoy Día, PEOPLE, Southern Living, Entrepreneur, PARADE and other national media outlets.

Founded by Kristina, The Cake Girl has grown from home baking to a dessert truck and ultimately a brick-and-mortar bakery in Tampa. Today, Kristina and her team are known for custom cakes, elaborate 3D creations, cupcakes and memorable desserts for celebrations, weddings, corporate events and clients throughout Tampa Bay and beyond. The brand continues to grow through Crave’n Cups, nationwide shipping, franchising and new opportunities in retail, hospitality and automated vending.