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Topic: Cake Decorating  (Read 6776 times)

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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2009, 04:49:54 PM »
I was thinking piping bags and nozzles to start! Haha.... Maybe I should get a beginners book and then see what tools I need to do the basic exercises in the book.

LOL! Yeah, as I said, it all depends on what it is you want to do. A piping bag and nozzles will let you ... well, pipe icing. But not a whole lot more than that. Although you can get pretty creative with it. I think you need to start off with a library book and see what ideas strike your fancy, then go from there.

Amazon is a good source, but there are tons of other specialty online shops. Just Google 'sugarcraft' and see what you come up with. There might even be a real shop near you - I'm pretty sure we have one here.
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2009, 06:19:24 PM »
I am going to be in the states soon, so I might be able to pick a few things up there, but I'm only there for a week, so I don't know if I will have time.

Check if a local Michael's/Jo-Ann/etc is offering a class that week.  They usually offer beginner classes (often Wilton) that only last a few hours.  Might be worth it as a starting point.


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2009, 08:17:56 PM »
I'd think you could teach yourself - with books - quite a bit if you put your mind to it. And living in a small village, your name would soon get out as the local cake lady - so it might be a way for you to eventually make a little extra money!

You could stock up on a few tools when you're in the US. I suspect they would be cheaper than the UK. Is there a cookware shop in your village or nearby? IME, when I was in the UK, they often had small cake decorating sections.

Also, you may find a bit of a difference between US and UK cake decorating because of the difference in how the countries tend to prefer their cakes! I actually had a couple cake makers in the UK tell me I couldn't have chocolate cake for my wedding cake because you can't use sponge! ::)

I have a GREAT cupcake decorating book... I'll look up the title and post it later.
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~ John Lennon


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2009, 09:07:44 PM »
I actually had a couple cake makers in the UK tell me I couldn't have chocolate cake for my wedding cake because you can't use sponge! ::)

That's just silly. I had no problem asking for sponge cake (mine was lemon) for my wedding.
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2009, 09:27:04 PM »
Wow that is some kind of decorating Chary! That looks really professional.

The only advice I can give you is just do it, experiment and treat it as fun. There a lots of Youtube clips you can look at to give yourself a feel for free. Like how to apply the frosting, how to smooth it, little tips on decorations. You'll see what tools you may need depending on what you want to do.

My mother made wedding cakes when I was really young. I used to watch but never bothered to learn. <kickyourself smiley>  Everything I do is self taught over a long time. My cakes are fun. They look homemade and most important they taste homemade. My cakes fall into two categories, the kids themed cakes and general cakes. Every cake is different, each approach is different as I tend to construct the cakes into things like planes, cars, a tank, a soldier, an igloo in the Arctic with an Eskimo fishing - just ask the kids what they want and then use my imagination and somehow it comes together. I use various icings, marzipan and royal icing for 'cementing' things together (sometimes I'll use toothpicks, lollie sticks, even Cinnamon sticks if the item needs extra strength. For some cakes, I will use a variety of cakes together: sponge, devil's food, brownie, etcs. Quite often for chocolate cakes I make a tray of fudge brownie as a base with a chocolate cake on top. Between the layers I may use jam, fruit, frosting, marzipan or a mix. No two cakes are alike, except my carrot cakes. Sometimes the flavours work really well, sometimes they don't work so well. But they always get eaten very quick. Sometimes the design works, sometimes it doesn't but the kids love them. But again the cakes are all home-made and home-decorated and they all taste great.

Just experiment and have fun; there are no rules. Kids will find it fun, adults will find it tasty.


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #20 on: October 30, 2009, 11:11:39 PM »
That's just silly. I had no problem asking for sponge cake (mine was lemon) for my wedding.

I know. Maybe it was a Devon thing. They all wanted to make stodgy fruit cake or carrot cake with no flavor. Blech.
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~ John Lennon


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #21 on: October 31, 2009, 06:30:26 AM »
I'm not familiar with sets sold specifically in the UK, but I do love the tools and sets made by Wilton. Even if you don't have time to take a class while stateside, check out the cake decorating section of any craft store.  Wal-Mart also sells the Wilton stuff, and JC PEnney does, too.

One thing I'd recommend is getting a practice board so you don't mess up the cake.  My aunt has a clear one and when she was teaching me how to make roses, she put the step-by-step sheet under the clear practice board and I was able to make my roses following the instructions under me by tracing the pattern.  And if they were to my satisfaction, it was easy to pick them up and put them on the cake...easier than scraping off a bad rose I made on the cake!
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #22 on: October 31, 2009, 09:23:43 AM »
I'm not familiar with sets sold specifically in the UK, but I do love the tools and sets made by Wilton. Even if you don't have time to take a class while stateside, check out the cake decorating section of any craft store.  Wal-Mart also sells the Wilton stuff, and JC PEnney does, too.

One thing I'd recommend is getting a practice board so you don't mess up the cake.  My aunt has a clear one and when she was teaching me how to make roses, she put the step-by-step sheet under the clear practice board and I was able to make my roses following the instructions under me by tracing the pattern.  And if they were to my satisfaction, it was easy to pick them up and put them on the cake...easier than scraping off a bad rose I made on the cake!

Well, I thought I would start small and just learn to pipe icing, so I bought a piping bag set, a palette knife, some scraper things to make fancy edges around the cakes, and a flower nail. I thought I would try piping flowers onto the nail and then placing them on the cake if they look good (haha, if I can scrape them off and place them without them falling apart!). But yeah, I will probably practice on a cutting board, plate, or whatever else and then try practicing with cheap store-bought cakes just to get the hang of it, that way I can have more time to practice decorating, since I won't be doing all the baking. I'd like to be able to make American style kids' birthday cakes, as I don't care for the ones here. I don't think that particular sort of icing is very edible. The ones in America look a bit tackier, but the whole thing tastes good, and everyone fights over who gets the roses and decorations because they get more delicious icing, which I think says a lot!  ;) Eventually I might like to work up to doing some fancier stuff, but I do just want to have fun with it, so we will see how it goes! There is one bakery here, but it would be most excellent if I could make some money at it someday. I am sure my cakes would be a lot different from theirs. But if I'm not very good at it, then I'll just have fun!


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #23 on: October 31, 2009, 09:31:02 AM »
Post pictures!
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #24 on: October 31, 2009, 10:37:01 AM »
Post pictures!

It might be a while before I make anything worthy of photographing! But we'll see! My first goal is to make cupcakes with buttercream roses on top. Hopefully, these:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/pumpkin-cupcakes/


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2009, 10:51:11 AM »
It might be a while before I make anything worthy of photographing! But we'll see! My first goal is to make cupcakes with buttercream roses on top. Hopefully, these:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/pumpkin-cupcakes/

This is a really lovely looking recipe, however be careful when making the buttercream with Philly here in the UK as I can never get the consistancy right. The plastic tubs are not the same as the bricks that you can get in the UK, its always a softer frosting imo.


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2009, 12:49:34 PM »
This is a really lovely looking recipe, however be careful when making the buttercream with Philly here in the UK as I can never get the consistancy right. The plastic tubs are not the same as the bricks that you can get in the UK, its always a softer frosting imo.

Seconded. I completely ruined a cheesecake becaue it was too soft in the middle so I overbaked it!
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #27 on: October 31, 2009, 02:21:04 PM »
This is a really lovely looking recipe, however be careful when making the buttercream with Philly here in the UK as I can never get the consistancy right. The plastic tubs are not the same as the bricks that you can get in the UK, its always a softer frosting imo.

Didn't realise that, that might explain why I think I use more icing sugar than I should be sometimes.
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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #28 on: October 31, 2009, 02:43:41 PM »
Didn't realise that, that might explain why I think I use more icing sugar than I should be sometimes.

Hmmm... so you would use more icing sugar than normal to make it stiffer and easier to control? Why does baking everything in the UK have to be so complicated?!  :P I already have to add extra flour and baking soda to everything!


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Re: Cake Decorating
« Reply #29 on: October 31, 2009, 03:06:06 PM »
Hmmm... so you would use more icing sugar than normal to make it stiffer and easier to control? Why does baking everything in the UK have to be so complicated?!  :P I already have to add extra flour and baking soda to everything!

Perhaps it all the moisture in the air over here.  ;D
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