Hello, I saw you on the Early Show this morning and saw how you decorated the round cake and saw that you used a piece of transparent plastic sheet. What was that sheet and where can I get one? I have lots of cake decorating tools and do a little cake decorating myself but I have never seen something so cool to smooth the top of a round cake. Please tell me where I can get such a sheet?
The plastic sheets you mentioned are referred to as acetate cake collars, acetate rolls, or acetate cake wraps. Pastry professionals use them to wrap around mousse cakes and pastries to keep them fresh. You can find them at baking supply stores or on the web from various sites. I've linked to a couple of sites below. As I mentioned on air, you can also use cellophane sheets cut to approximately 2" by 10" or strips of standard white printer paper. In a pinch I've even used wrapping - any thing that is flexible and will conform to the sides of a curved cake.
http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=173
http://www.bakedeco.com/dept.asp?id=117
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=acetate+strips&tag=googhydr-20&index=garden&hvadid=3212109777&ref=pd_sl_7z8bi65lzh_b
Monday, March 30, 2009
STARTER KIT
I want to start making my kids birthday cakes, but I'm not sure what I need. Can you give me some ideas on what the basic things are that I need to buy to get started?
If you are a novice baker or cake decorator and don’t know where to begin, here is a list of basic tools, beyond the modern basics like an electric mixer, rubber spatulas, and bowls, that I recommend purchasing. A great place to look for decorating supplies is www.wilton.com - they have almost all you will need to start making cakes at home.
· Assorted baking pans including a 9x13” rectangular pan, a 9-inch or 10-inch round pan, and a standard 12-mold muffin/cupcake pan. With these three sizes you can do so almost any style cake or cupcake.
· I recommend purchasing a starter tip set. Ones like the deluxe set from Wilton (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30DB12-475A-BAC0-56CD4756E12FB6B7&killnav=1) have all you need and more. If you want to spend less money I would recommend buying the following individual tips: #104 petal tip, #8 round tip, #16 or 27 star tip, and a # 352 leaf tip. With these 4 tips you can do almost everything in my books. In addition to these tips purchase a few reusable or disposable 12-inch pastry bags, couplers and rings.
· I would be lost without my 12-inch offset blade spatula and a small 4 ½ offset spatula. You could always use a rubber spatula or even a butter knife to apply icing, but you won’t get the smooth finish that you can achieve with an offset spatula
· Assorted icing colors: liquid gel, liquid, or paste all work fine. Start with a basic set of Red, Yellow, and Blue. If you enjoy decorating branch out and get premixed colors for a more varied palette (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30C97E-475A-BAC0-5A609FE5C5506685&killnav=1 )
· If you want to try your hand at the “Chocolate Method” purchase a basic set of Candy Color (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30B819-475A-BAC0-5F5189466A40B391&killnav=1 ), and a few bags of dark and white confectioner’s chocolate (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E310A5F-475A-BAC0-513EBB4AAC195A7E&killnav=1 ). To make pastry cones have parchment paper and/or cellophane on hand.
If you are a novice baker or cake decorator and don’t know where to begin, here is a list of basic tools, beyond the modern basics like an electric mixer, rubber spatulas, and bowls, that I recommend purchasing. A great place to look for decorating supplies is www.wilton.com - they have almost all you will need to start making cakes at home.
· Assorted baking pans including a 9x13” rectangular pan, a 9-inch or 10-inch round pan, and a standard 12-mold muffin/cupcake pan. With these three sizes you can do so almost any style cake or cupcake.
· I recommend purchasing a starter tip set. Ones like the deluxe set from Wilton (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30DB12-475A-BAC0-56CD4756E12FB6B7&killnav=1) have all you need and more. If you want to spend less money I would recommend buying the following individual tips: #104 petal tip, #8 round tip, #16 or 27 star tip, and a # 352 leaf tip. With these 4 tips you can do almost everything in my books. In addition to these tips purchase a few reusable or disposable 12-inch pastry bags, couplers and rings.
· I would be lost without my 12-inch offset blade spatula and a small 4 ½ offset spatula. You could always use a rubber spatula or even a butter knife to apply icing, but you won’t get the smooth finish that you can achieve with an offset spatula
· Assorted icing colors: liquid gel, liquid, or paste all work fine. Start with a basic set of Red, Yellow, and Blue. If you enjoy decorating branch out and get premixed colors for a more varied palette (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30C97E-475A-BAC0-5A609FE5C5506685&killnav=1 )
· If you want to try your hand at the “Chocolate Method” purchase a basic set of Candy Color (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30B819-475A-BAC0-5F5189466A40B391&killnav=1 ), and a few bags of dark and white confectioner’s chocolate (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E310A5F-475A-BAC0-513EBB4AAC195A7E&killnav=1 ). To make pastry cones have parchment paper and/or cellophane on hand.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Cakes as seen on CBS Early Show
I'll get around to fixing the baseball and ladybug image orientation, but just wanted to get the pictures posted. For the step-by-step directions go to the Events page at http://www.whimsicalbakehouse.com/ and click on the CBS Early Show link or click on Get the Buzz on our home page. 
Thursday, March 26, 2009
CBS EARLY SHOW
Some last minute plans. My mom and I will be appearing on the CBS Early Show (the 8:30am time slot) on Monday March, 30th to talk about baking cakes on a budget. We will have some colorful cake examples on hand, share fun decorating ideas, and demonstrate how to decorate a simple and playful cake.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Zebra Stripes? Breaking Chocolate?
I recently tried to make the Zebra Stripe cake from Little Cakes and I was having trouble scoring the chocolate into stripes. The stripes were not coming out right and when I would score the chocolate it would break EXTREMELY easily not leaving me with much chocolate to work with. What could I do to make it easier to score and to make the chocolate harder so it would not break into a million pieces?
After you pipe out the zebra stripes to the approximate size you want there are a few of things to consider. First, perhaps the chocolate stripes are too thin. The chocolate should be between 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch thick. If it is too thin it will break easily when handled. Second, when you score the chocolate, lightly score with a small serrated paring knife (a steak knife will suffice). Do not cut through the entire piece of chocolate as this will cause it to fracture; instead saw into the chocolate 1/3 of the way through. Then gently lift the stripe off of the parchment/cellophane, and with both hands, hold your fingers on opposite sides of the score line, and break in half. Lastly, if you are still having difficulty, consider cutting the stripes before the chocolate has completely set. In this state, the chocolate is not yet "shiny" and if you push your finger into the top it won't make an imprint but it will feel like it has some give.
After you pipe out the zebra stripes to the approximate size you want there are a few of things to consider. First, perhaps the chocolate stripes are too thin. The chocolate should be between 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch thick. If it is too thin it will break easily when handled. Second, when you score the chocolate, lightly score with a small serrated paring knife (a steak knife will suffice). Do not cut through the entire piece of chocolate as this will cause it to fracture; instead saw into the chocolate 1/3 of the way through. Then gently lift the stripe off of the parchment/cellophane, and with both hands, hold your fingers on opposite sides of the score line, and break in half. Lastly, if you are still having difficulty, consider cutting the stripes before the chocolate has completely set. In this state, the chocolate is not yet "shiny" and if you push your finger into the top it won't make an imprint but it will feel like it has some give.
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