Getting my cupcake on

So this post is specifically about a couple of cupcake gadgets that I purchased in the lead up to Christmas as I had quite a few cupcake orders to work on.

The first of my purchases were the Purple Cupcake Foam Balls/Domes. These are great, largely because I aim to be an organised caker, so this means you can premake your little cupcake toppers and decorate them beautifully and just sit them onto your cupcakes when you are ready to go. No more ganaching them and trying to cover them perfectly every time - these guarantee you that perfect little dome every time.

I would definitely recommend testing out a few different sizes first to make sure you get the best cover. Just because the ball is high, doesn't mean you will need to cover it entirely.

I would also recommend if you have a few to do, then make a mould of these with fondant and tylose and use them as a mould for your next lot of cupcake toppers. Worked a treat for me, but don't try it if its humid.

My Overall Review:

Rating: 10/10

Positives: Super easy to get the perfect dome. I mean really, what more can I say about this great little time saver. The foam is breathable so they dry nice and quickly too.
Negatives: Only six in the packet :(
Cost: I purchased mine online for $18.95 from Couture Cakes


The second purchase I made was The Cupcake Helper Batter Dispenser. So I really like this concept, as I often find after bulk cupcake baking that I have little bits everywhere on the tray when trying to fill up the cups evenly. This little bad boy is pretty accurate and certainly avoided a little bit of mess. It works really nicely IF and I say a big IF your batter is thin. I have tried it now a few different times, and it works nicely for a thin chocolate mud cake batter, but doesn't work at all if your mixture is a bit thicker like my white mud or butter cake mixes. It really is a shame, because the idea is great and I wanted to love it so much, but it left me a little disappointed. I think this is probably more suited to a domestic scenario rather than a commercial one or would be perfect for making crepes :)

My Overall Review:

Rating: 4/10

Positives: Less mess, this was a big positive as I hate having 50 spoons to wash from all the cupcake filling. The idea itself is great and has potential. Capacity of 4cups which was held quite a bit of mixture and its easy to pour the batter into.
Negatives: Doesn't dispense thicker cake batters. This is a big negative unfortunately.
Cost: I purchased mine from Cake Decorating Solutions for $15.95

 

Flexi Paste Jelly Lace

Try saying that three times fast - what a mouthful LOL. I have had a tub of flexi paste sitting around for a while, and a couple of weekends ago I went along to a demo at Cake Decorating Solutions when they opened their store at Northmead. I was really excited to see the flexi paste in action, and after seeing some photos of their jelly lace, I decided it was time to give it a go and get reviewing for you all.

So here is a link to the recipe I used for the Jelly Lace.

Once you have it mixed up, this is what it will look like. It is a bit runnier than jam, and the idea is that you want to scrape it into your mould so that it fills only the mould and no excess around the sides. I used disco sparkles in the mould  first and then added the jelly lace over the top. My little palette knife was perfect for scraping off the excess.

 

I tried two different moulds and both were as effective as each other - just the drying times needed adjusting. The beauty of this mixture is that you can leave it overnight or even a couple of days in the mat and its still easy to remove. Then you simply store them in a zip lock bag until you want to use them. It really is best to be patient with this and let them dry in their own time. It will make it super easy for them to just peel out of their moulds with next to no effort.

 

 

Here is a picture of my little doily shaped lace pieces sitting ontop of a cake - that way you can clearly see how it looks against white fondant. I can't wait to try these out on an order, or on Christmas cakes.

 

 

 

My Overall Review:

Rating: 10/10

Positives: Easy to use, instructions are simple and ingredients are commonly found. I also liked that it was another different way to use the flexi paste and can really set your cake apart from others. It is also another great way to use your silicon mats. I think one of the big advantages are that you can make these well in advance and just store them in a zip lock bag until you are ready to use them.
Negatives: Getting the disco sparkles out of your silicon mats later is NOT FUN. Also the downside is probably the drying time. I was possibly a little too keen to see the results, and when I left it it was much better.
Cost: I purchased my flexi paste directly from their website with prices starting from $24.95. It has many different uses and I hope to review them all. 

Christmas Cookie Cutter Set by Wilton

So I confess to loving baking, and I thought I would try out a gingerbread recipe by Margaret Fulton (I am on a mission to cook everything in her Baking cookbook). With this in mind I purchased myself this wilton set of gingerbread men cookie cutters. There is four metal cutters in the pack, and I have to say that they cut absolutely beautifully and they are really sturdy, so its unlikely that they are going to get bent out of shape in the bottom of my cookie cutter drawer.

I gave three of the four sizes a go. The largest one just seemed to be more like a fat teddy bear. I think as each cutter gets bigger they don't end up getting the proportionate increase in height. So I wasn't really a fan of that one lol.

I plan on decorating these with my son this afternoon - so here are my nudey rudey gingerbread men! No idea why this keeps posting this image the wrong way, so apologies for that!

My Overall Review:

Rating: 7.5/10

Positives: Sturdy and will hold there shape, easy to find in the shops, well priced and comes in a little box to store them in.
Negatives: The weird shape of the largest one - so I have marked it down purely for that, and since it is 1/4 of the packet, then I deducted 25% from my rating.
Cost: I purchased mine from Cake Decorating Solutions for $8.95. I think its pretty reasonably priced for 4 metal cutters.

 

Kitchenaid's new commercial stand mixer - 6.9L bowl

So finally kitchen aid has brought out a mixer with a larger bowl - its like a little slice of caking heaven IMO, but here is a review so you can make up your own mind on this bad boy.

Some of the features listed on the kitchen aid website are:
Full metal construction robust, stable and durable
High efficiency DC motor runs longer & delivers optimum torque with less heat build up

Our most efficient Advanced Feedback Speed Control ensures selected RPM is maintained

10-speed slide control with Soft Start feature starts at a lower speed and quickly increases to the selected speed

Speed Control Protection shields the control lever to prevent accidentally turning on the mixer

 

Original Planetary Action fast and thorough mixing

Professional Style Attachment Power Hub suits all stand mixer attachments

Stainless Steel Power Knead™ Spiral Dough Hook powerfully punches and rolls thick, heavy dough with smooth efficiency

Stainless Steel 11-wire Elliptical Whisk provides increased volume for fluffier egg whites and lighter whipped cream in minimum time

6.9L Stainless Steel Bowl with J-style ergonomic handle facilitates easy stacking or hanging. The sealed handle and cut edged bowl eliminates the hazard of food trapping

Pouring Shield keeps ingredients covered while providing a convenient chute to add further ingredients to the bowl

Motor protection should the motor experience an overload, the mixer will automatically shut off to prevent damage

Dishwasher safe accessories

 

I have been using this mixer for over two months now, in conjunction with my Hobart 20L mixer, so I admit to only using it for smaller cakes, but it has completely replaced my smaller kitchen aid, and I think that despite the price, this will become the go to mixer of choice for many cake decorators. The extra capacity is really worth it, as you can use it for big or small cakes. I have no doubt that this will start to come out in additional colours soon. 

 

I also don't think you need the flexi beater with this one - the whisk has great contact with the bowl, and I don't end up with bits at the bottom that need to be remixed, unlike the smaller model where I felt I needed the flexi beater.

 

My Overall Review:

Rating: 9/10

Positives: Capacity - I mean seriously, it makes it sooooo much more worthwhile over their standard model. Still can be used with all the accessories like the pasta machine. It is much quieter and as the head does not tilt, it means you can not misalign the beater which is such a good feature as it would drive me insane with the smaller model (and ruined one of my whisks)
Negatives: The bowl is a bit of a pain in the backside to get on and off - but I suspect this will get easier over time once the metal bump at the back has a little bit of give in it. I think the price will be the biggest draw back for a lot of cake decorators. It is a big price difference from the standard model to this one and this is why I have docked it one point on the score. But if price is no issue then its a ten for sure.
Cost: The RRP for this mixer is $1195 including GST - you can check it out here on the kitchenaid website

 

 

Getting my Dinkydoodle on!

So todays road test is on the Dinkydoodle designs range of airbrush paints. These paints are quite unique in the way that they can be applied to both fondant and chocolate.

When you airbrush using these colours you can also layer them up, so if you have a coat of blue, and then you want to add some white over the top, the white will actually be white and not create a paler shade of blue. There is no drying time between coats - its pretty much instant which is awesome, and from what I could see during my airbrushing time, its not possible to end up with a blobby wet mess which I have occasionally done using my kopykake and americolor airbrush liquids.

The big bonus I see with this range of paints is actually my new best friend - also known as Pearl Silver, which is the white lustre look that everyone wants at the moment. Here is the deal, I have two different brands of airbrushes, and unfortunately I have found that the americolor pearl blocked both of them up due to the thickness of the paints. Watering them down would result in applying lots of coats to achieve the look of a fully lustred cake. The Pearl Silver (about to be renamed just Pearl) is a little gem of a colour which did not block my airbrush!!! Hooray, *imagine me doing a happy dance here lol* a quick and easy way to lustre without the dreaded spitting and blocking of the airbrush.




I was fortunate enough to do a class with Dawn on Sunday, and this is the amazing creation, which started off white, and by the end of the day was transformed into a beautifully airbrushed barrier reef creation.

 

My Overall Review:

Rating: 10/10

Positives: They go on dry, can be mixed together to get the colours you want, the black is a true black, you can use them on chocolate and fondant, and I don't think I need to say anything else about the pearl silver do I??? No wet blotches from over applying.
Negatives: They are hard to get a hold of at the moment, but Dawn assures me that there will be a bucket load in the shops this week. It would be good if there was a sample pack available so that you can try them all out and then purchase the larger ones that you like. It might be a little bit expensive at first, but I can see that they would last a while.
Cost: I paid from $16.50 - $23.50 per bottle at Cake Decorating Solutions. They are proving so popular at the moment, so if you are interested in purchasing them, I would recommend pre-ordering them so you don't miss out.

 

I couldn't leave this class without getting a happy snap with one of my cake idols - don't mind my blue nose lol!!!

 



Clean and simple cake design - online craftsy class

One of my favourite things to do is learn from others. Sometimes you can just get one little tip or trick that can make your caking adventure so much easier. This class contained one OMG moment for me - you know where you sit back and look at all the cakes you have done in the past and wonder - why didn't I think of that???  

Jessica Harris has a wonderful blog - http://jessicakesblog.blogspot.com.au/ and I highly recommend you follow it as she has loads of great tutorials on there.

I also really do think this tutorial is great value for money - they are always on sale, and there really is something for everyone.

Here is the cake I made, inspired by this tutorial. I used Swarovski crystals, and a silver leaf ribbon just to bling it up a little bit.

 

 

 

 

 

My Overall Review:

Rating: 10/10
Positives: Can learn a range of techniques at your own pace. Affordable compared to doing an actual in the flesh class. The classes are yours to keep forever, so you can keep going back to them when you want to. I also like the amount of topics covered in this class. I think there is something for everyone from beginners to advanced.
Negatives: You want to have good internet, otherwise viewing it could be painful. Sometimes it is hard to locate particular products used, as this is a US decorator.
Cost: $43.99 online from Craftsy - however it is 50% off if you go through Jessica's blog

I am Inspired - by Michelle that is :)

Every now and then, I like to treat myself to a little caking indulgence, and also like to tick something off my bucket list. (To do classes with all my caking idols). So with that in mind, I booked in to do a double barrel cake decorating course with the incredibly talented, and just a down right wonderful person, Michelle Rea from Inspired by Michelle Cake Designs.

If you don't already follow Michelle's work, then I have to say - get on board. She is an amazing person and is very generous with sharing her wealth of knowledge on all things cake. She has an excellent you tube tutorial on ganaching cakes which is the method that I use (and learnt from this very clip).

Here is a pic of my ganached cake - have to say I am pretty damn proud of this baby and all its chocolaty goodness :)

Had to also take advantage of the photo op and get my celebrity caking photo taken ;) For those of you who haven't met Michelle, she is on the left and her cake was the chocolate, orange and hot pink number which was just stunning!

 

My overall review

Rating: 10/10

Positives: Michelle is an incredible talent and she is more than prepared to share all her tips, tricks and advice along the way. The classes are small (max 8 people) which really gives you a good opportunity to get help if you needed, and to be able to learn from her. She provides all the equipment that you need, and has parking on-site. I am already planning on booking another one of her classes next year - that's how good it was!!!

Negatives: Hmmm, still trying to think of one, yes I don't have one yet

Cost: $350 for this particular class

 

Here is the photo of the cake I made - too good to cut, and will be a display for a little while yet :)