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Original poster

where and what to buy for cake decorating.

634 replies

Twit · 23/10/2009 10:31

I have just started to decorate my own cakes, I was given a cake decorating book for my birthday after constantly complaining about the quality of birthday cakes in the supermarket.
My question is this; where [online] would you recommend I buy my bits and pieces, and what should I buy?
I have had a look around and am feeling overwhelmed by the choice. What colour paste should I go for? I am also a bit confused about edible sparkle/glitter powder. Some websites say it it inedible, some say it is non toxic and you could eat it.

OP posts:
Kayzr · 16/11/2009 11:00

Thanks that is really helpful.

They are going to be the same size and probably will be iced, still thinking about it.

Will order some Gum Tragacanth today so I can have a few practice attempts.

Thank You!

DebiTheScot · 16/11/2009 19:46

your cakes are so amazing Oliham. How can you bear them being cut? Mine are nowhere near that good and I hate it when they have to be cut and eaten!

I have added some cake things to my Amazon wish list and am going to the local cake shop tomorrow to get what I need to make those baubles.

Slubberdegullion · 16/11/2009 19:57

Whoah there, holy cow Olihan your new cakes are fabulous. You have such lovely smooth clean lines . Sheila would be very, very proud.

re pricing: on the weekend I walked past the Cake shop in town (cunningly called Cake) and had a butchers in the window.

In there was a perfectly standard 9 inch round cake, white sugar paste, ribbon (not edible), 'Noel' stenciled on the top and a few (small) nativity figures (they were well done but nothing spectacularly fancy)...

SEVENTY FIVE WHOLE BRITISH POUNDS

Seventy five quid for something that is totally surpassed by some of the cakes on the profiles here.

I made some squeaky noises at the window.

Olihan · 16/11/2009 20:23

Slubber, J always says how expensive Cake is. I've never actually been in but some of the cakes they have on their website are horrific. Sheila would not be impressed Seriously, they are charging £85 for this very odd looking Thomas the Tank Engine . And this one looks pretty similar work/time/size wise to my HSM one but they're charging from £62 for it . I only charged £35 and thought that was a lot. Fancy setting up a rival company?

Thanks for the compliments too. The covering went on flukily well on both the HSM and Ben 10 ones, usually I need a good width ribbon round to hide the wonky base!

Slubberdegullion · 16/11/2009 22:09

Olihan, your HSM cake is way better than that playing card one in your link. And what is with the GIANT sugarpaste figure? There were a couple in the windows with similarly heinous and inelegant giganticor figures on.

yuk

I'd love to be in a business but your cakes are amazing and I am decidedly amateur. I practically had a stroke covering my cake board today with the wide flat strip (like sheila showed us) and the utter, utter bastard paste kept on sticking to the table.

I could answer the phone I suppose, that and thinly spread apricot jam onto the cakes.

stealthsquiggle · 16/11/2009 23:51

Olihan - your Ben10 cake is a work of technical genius - I am in awe (and not uploading my cakes any more - although I am rather proud of the one with dry ice )

DebiTheScot · 17/11/2009 14:06

that Thomas cake is hideous. Even I could do better than that. And Olihan your HSM one is way better than that one.

PlumBumMum · 17/11/2009 20:18

Somehow this thread popped on to my threads I'm watching list and disappeared from threads I'm on so I've missed loads of posts will go back and read through,

Finally finished another shoe cake this time with the irish dancing pump added on, I thought I was going for a nervous breakdown last night when the shoe box lid fell apart when I was assembling the cake!

PlumBumMum · 17/11/2009 20:32

Wow olihan your new cakes are fab, 35 for HSM is madness, it should be way more, I feel bad asking larger sums because I've just started but OMG you could charge anything they are brilliant

I look up the cake shop (might be called londoncake shop) theirs are brilliant but the prices are xxxxx
For a 2 teir version of my castle cake £120 I emailed it to my cousin who I charged £30 on the condition she gave me the castle back, she couldn't believe it, and was also glad I didn't live in London

PlumBumMum · 17/11/2009 20:34

Stealthsquiggle I agree might ask mn can they ban Olihan from looking at my profie

DebiTheScot · 17/11/2009 21:46

PlumBumMum that happened to me too, I thought I must have put it in my watched list and I'd just gone mad!

Just rescued my christmas cake from the oven. Recipe said 4-4.5 hrs (the one that someone here gave me, sorry forgot who) at 130C. It was in for 3.25 hrs at 125C and is burnt round the edges. Is cooked but hopefully not overcooked in middle. My oven is clearly screwed.

Moosy · 17/11/2009 22:05

Sorry it didn't work out right Debi, mine took 4 hours exactly, how strange that your oven is so different to mine!

I've been struggling to make a horse to go on a birthday cake - I stuck it together last night and by this morning its head had fallen off! I think I'll make a replacement tomorrow as there were a few things about it that I wasn't happy with. Lets just hope this one works out as it's for thursday - eek!

stealthsquiggle · 17/11/2009 22:11

Moosy you need to reinforce your horse's neck with (raw) spaghetti.

I have just put the middle tier of what will be a fairy castle in the oven (tiers 1 and 3 have just gone in the freezer) and have realised that I have no boards or dowels so will have to stop on the way home from work tomorrow and get them (eek) to assemble tomorrow night and finish Thursday night for party on Friday. In a stroke of what I hope is genius, I am going to put battery-powered tealights in each tower so the (colour-changing) lights shine out of the windows

Moosy · 17/11/2009 22:15

Your castle sounds amazing Stealth, can't wait for the photos!

I did try poking a bit of spag in to the neck today when I realised it wasn't going to stick back on, but the icing was too hard and it wouldn't go in. Tbh I'm not too bothered about having to make another one, version 1 was only my second real attempt at a sugarpaste model (and the fairy I did was small and easy).

Olihan · 17/11/2009 22:17

My horse's head was held on with spaghetti and supported under the chin with a small piece of foam until 2 mins before it was picked up . Also, use sugar glue rather than water to attch it as it sets harder.

stealthsquiggle · 17/11/2009 22:25

Sugar glue and sponges definitely essential - for transport as well as for drying.

Olihan · 17/11/2009 22:25

Blimey Stealth, you'll be on Ace of Cakes with that mad American guy who puts engines and stuff into his cakes before you know it! A 3 tier castle is mightily impressive even without colour changing tealights. Pleeease put a picture on, your cakes are fab.

stealthsquiggle · 17/11/2009 22:28

I really want to link to my flickr set which has all my cakes on, but my flickr name is my real name

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 17/11/2009 22:30

oli, just went for a nosey at your photo's and it says they aren't there anymore...

feeling VERY nosey!

I am loving this thread, not posting much sorry, but am enjoying lurking.
have won a cake competition at playgroup this week, but felt that the prize should be given to someone else as I was the only person who actually "does" cakes and gets paid for them, I purposefully made biscuits so I would not win, but they were so popular they thought I should win (they were car biscuits iced up with windows and wheels and exhausts etc

I have to make a huge fruit cake this week so need to shop tomorrow.

do you think it would work for me to make 2 and to cut one of them up into smaller cakes? I have the silverwood tin but want triangle cakes to make into christmas tree cakes?

Olihan · 17/11/2009 22:37

I can still see them BTPOG. I had a panic that I'd imploded the system by uploading too many pictures. Have you put your stencil cake on yet?

I think the christmas cake idea would work fine. If you use a really sharp knife to cut them then the cut edge shouldn't disintegrate much. Go for it and show us the results.....

stealthsquiggle · 17/11/2009 22:41

greyskull - I would say if you chilled the cake well and cut it with a sharp enough knife it would be fine.

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 18/11/2009 08:40

still cant see your pics, there is just a sign saying sorry we can't find that picture

anyway, I will give the fruitcake a go over the next few days and show and tell.

Have tried the stencil on a cake board, it worked really well think it is going to be hard on the side of a cake but I love doing royal icing with my smoother so it is just going to take time (I think)

Original poster
Twit · 18/11/2009 12:19

[picks self up off floor at how biiig this thread has got]

I haven't even managed to read through it all lol.

Anyhoo, I'm thinking of making a Yule Log as n0-one likes Christmas cake, I have a roasting/grill pan, if I line it properly I could use it... right?

Next question; how do I know how much cake mixture to make up, or is it a trial and error thing?

Next question; when do I roll it up? Are there any techniques to doing it right so I don't feck mess it up?
[oops, 2 in 1 there.]

OP posts:
Moosy · 18/11/2009 12:31

Olihan, do you have a picture of the horse that you made? I'd like to see how you did it and copy it get some inspriation!

PlumBumMum · 18/11/2009 17:08

BTPOG I can still see Olihans pics, you've broke your mn

Stealthsquiggle I have seen loads of brilliant cakes on flickr wonder if any are yours?