Sugarcraft chat

[wem]

I started a thread for cake people a while back but it got a bit lost in Chat so thought I'd try to tempt people into our lovely new baking topic.

Hopefully I'll see some of the posters from the chat thread, but for any new people popping in, introductions: I'm wem, I'm a recent cake obsessive and have been bothering mumsnetters about it a fair bit as I'm starting up cake decorating business. I don't have anywhere near the experience or knowledge of some of the posters in here, but I do have an excessive willingness to chat about cake :)

Let's try this again, eh?

wem I wanted a pretty one, TBH, but DH vetoed it on grounds of build quality, and I have to admit but never to him that he was right.

K45/Classic is, as I understood it, an Artisan minus the paint job.

I guess harder to get attachments for though, just had a quick look for a flex beater and it's more expensive than for the artisan. Are there any non-standard attachments that you rate?

You do have to double-check attachments. Anything which attaches to the direct drive (so the pasta roller, mincer, etc) should work fine on any of them - it's just beaters which depend on the bowl size. I ended up getting a non-KA branded flex beater for mine, which is great (and lots better than the standard K beater which started to chip - apparently my fault for not adjusting height properly on machine, but a PITA anyway)

I phoned the shop and they said the flex beater can be used in the classic as well, so I've ordered one! Eek! It's going to be a good few cakes in before I start making money on this business...

I need it though. I've done a couple of big cakes today for the weekend and I felt like my arm was about to drop off.

Once you have the KA Wem, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it!

I do think they are a bit 'emporers new clothes' in that a lot of the attraction is with how they look, but they are fab, it makes cakes so easy. I do worry I will kill mine though. If I did I would actually die I think...

Having a good stand mixer makes the world of difference in terms of time and effort. Hummingbird vanilla frosting, for example, which everyone raves about whenever I use it, absolutely needs 5 mins beating on high speed - there is no way I would do that with a hand held mixer.

You deffinately won't regret it, I'm only going to repeat what has just been said, you will wonder how you managed without once you've used it a few times!

I'm very excited . I've been reading the sweetapolita blog someone linked to on another thread and now I want to make all the cakes in the world :)

aaaaaargh - wem - what have you done to me - I now have to make this for my father's birthday.

Heh, sorry stealth Fantastic cake, does your dad have a particular interest in asparagus? :)

Not as such, but we (and they) are surrounded by asparagus farms, so it's pretty much a stable foodstuff at this time of year - his birthday is generally the last weekend of the season, so asparagus features on birthday menus. It's just too fantastic a cake not to do.

I had better get started this evening on making some sealife for the next cake after that so that I can focus on asparagus once the gooseberry green colour paste and the petals dusts arrive.

Ah, perfect for him then :) It certainly looks like fun to make.

I've been asked to make a butterfly cake but with buttercream rather than fondant. I'm trying to figure out how best to apply it so that I can get a pattern on the wings.

I have recently acquired a Kenwood commercial and I have used commercial Kitchenaids when I worked as a pastry chef. I have an Artisan at home so I feel qualified to compare the three :D

Having always been a KA aficianado I have to say that I am really enjoying using the Kenwood

Well, when I have my little cake shop on the high street I'll have a bank of different mixers and I'll do a definitive test.

As long as you don't tell DH that a cheaper mixer would have been fine I think my KA classic and I will be very happy together :)

but you can point out to DH that you took the sensible route with a plain, rugged classic instead of a fancypants coloured one .

Nigel - have you ever played with one of those kenwoods with a heated bowl? They intrigue me.

Didn't even know they did one... tell me more

here, Nigel.

hmmmm...

as I said, intruiging. DH's reaction was more "WTF?"

It would have to be for commercial use, you would think. I could see - choux pastry, hollandaise, possibly some other sauces - and cooked meringue icing.

While I wait for my kitchenaid to be delivered - - thought I'd share what I've been up to this week. I've been having fun with modelling, particularly a toy sheep for a christening cake, it's a copy of the christenee's favourite toy, and is the from the same range as DD1's favourite soft toy monkey :). It got a bit stressy when my first attempt fell apart but I think I nailed it second time round . Pic on my profile and here's the picture I was working from

That is brilliant wem !

Cheers Viking, it was my first proper paid-for cake, so I was really pleased to be able to do something personal for her.

Woohoo! I've got my kitchenaid and used it already and it's brilliant

And and and - I got my first order from a complete stranger! I actually have no idea how she found me. I'll have to ask when I deliver it.

Sorry, exciting day has led to consecutive posts

oooh - what a good day, wem. Are your DC and DH jealous of all the attention the KA is getting yet?

My colouring and petal dusts for asparagus haven't arrived yet - although it would have been academic given that I haven't finished work yet and need to leave by 6am tomorrow