My apologies Boring, I wasn't rebutting your porcelain suggestion ,just letting Tish know ( if she didn't already ) that if you look after it well, the sugarpaste should last as long as a porcelain topper.....my bad

Humidity is a big killer for sugarpaste !!! please sub modelling paste where I've said sugarpaste

Thanks tish for words of encouragement

Lili, thankyou,can't wait to see your Hi-5 cake !!

LiliS I met my DH on ICQ too he was in Brisbane & I was in Sydney and now we have been together for 8 years (married for 6). Seems like a few of us have found love on the internet.

Lili, did you meet him in one of the chat rooms or in the dating section ?

I'm obviously on the wrong site !!!

Jules, I know you were asking Lili but since we both met our partners on the same site I thought I would pass on that we met in the chat part was just friendly chat at first before the romance blossomed

Jules, I was just in an aussie chat room and he happened to like my nick name (mona lisa.. I know, but I thought it was cool at the time ) and we got to chatting as friends first. he was going through a divorce and he was 6 years younger so it was never a question of love for me. Then one day he told me he was coming for work and by that stage a bit of flirtiness had crept in... so thought ok, I can have a fling with a hot younger guy then he will go home and life will go on as usual.

Only it didnt. And now 6 years down the track, 2 kids and here we are, building a dream house and fighting and lovin' together!!!

Also, my cousing met her hubby on RSVP.com

I'm telling you, it's just another way to meet someone. Justlike a bar or pub but without the smoke and stress of making the right first impression. You can focus on the mind and what you have in common before all the superficialities get in the way!!!

I guess it's a sign of the times, really, I mean with technology things change, so many of you gals have met your partners on line, I didn't but I've met a number of friends this way, it's great!!!!!

jules, am waiting for hubby to wake up so he can load the pics onto the pc. We just got a new camera off ebay and I am dying to get it!! it's an easier one for me to use so I dont bust his chops all the time to load my pics!!

Hi everyone!

I'm in Brisbane and need to make a cake in the next week or so. Does anyone here make their own MMF or would you recommend buying fondant instead? Thanks!

Hi Jenny (Ozcake),

Just wanted to say another big THANK YOU for that white choc mud recipe! It is TOtally the one that I have been searching for for mONThs!! I just finished making my 3rd mix since Tuesday gone! My family and FRiends LOVE it!! Also I just tried substituting the sugar for brown and some of the milk with the top n fill to make a caramel one and it tastes Beautiful too!! This will definitely be my base mud cake recipe from now on!!

Hi jules, here is the link to the hi-5 cake I made last month. It's not a big challenge, but it was pretty good for my standards!

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1150849

no worries Dana glad to hear it worked well for you

Can someone please help me with this question. Does anyone know an easy way to calculate how to increase or decrease the ingredients for different sized cakes, eg if I know what I need for a 20cm cake, how do I work out for larger or smaller cakes.
Appreciate any help
Thanks
Cheryl

I was just wondering if someone could please help me out ! I have pretty much been making cakes for a hobby but would Love to become licensed and do it as a business BUT i am having trouble trying to figure out what I need to do! I have tried calling the Smart License people a few times and even had a pack sent out to me, but I just can't seem to figure it out, and which part applies to me etc?? I know most of you are in NSW or VIC, but even if you could give me some ideas of what i would probably need to do here in QLD that would be Fantastic!!

Lili , your cake is terrific ! I thought it was all fondant when I first saw it .

Your bc is so smooth I can't do that !!

Ok girls , I'm going to have to check out the chat rooms see if I can get myself a hot guy - if you have left any !

Jules all you need is a jug of boiling hot water and a spatula and you can get it that smooth. the fingers where a bit of a pain to get, I sweated them out big time. Was not really happy with the end result. but as soon as the green broder went on, the cake just popped.

As you can see, it's a fairly simple cake. But very effective. All the kids had pictures taken with it at the party and that's probably the best compliment I could have hoped for!!

Good luck in the chat rooms. Keep an open mind and just be yourself.

Silican Gel helps humidty, its been awhile since I brought new shoes but you used to get some in the shoe box, you just change it over although I must admit I have never changed mine. They usually have a small dish in cake cabinets at the show well at Sydney show anyway. If anyone is intersted.

Does anyone know if there is any truth in the theory that you need seperate tins for fruit cakes. I am having an issue with my eight inch cakes which I used the tins to bake my christmas cakes in last year. The two tins I used would have done about 20 fruit cakes each. I notice that my eight inch cakes now have a slight burntish aroma on the outer edge. I dont get this with the larger or the smaller cakes. The cake is not overcooked and I cook them on a pretty low temp with two layers of glad bake and a few layers of newspaper on the outer. Does anyone know if there is truth to the theory, is this the cause of it all or an I just going nuts with paranoia

RICKASH

Thanks for the tip Kelli! I have both at home I'll give it a go and let you know.

Lili, hope your hand is feeling better. Your cakes is veeery smooth! I also thought it was all fondant. I always have a problem with the very edge of a BC iced cakes.

He-he, I met my husband via computer as well. There wasn't internet then ..... actually may be there was, but we didn't have any. That was 15 years ago. There was a meeting service where you would fill in a form and post it and they would upload it onto a computer program and find you a match ( list of 7 people). The list I got was useless, but my future husband had me on his list. He was everything I asked my future husband NOT to be We wrote each other hundreds of letters and spoke over the phone few times for a year. Then he came over to meet me and then ... then I got the permission to come to Australia and it all went upside down ... But at the end of the day we got married here, just the two of us. Never had a wedding cake or a dress 12 years down the track we still together which is the main thing I guess

i'm not sure mzsweet, but it could be true. With a fruit cake you get alot of the oils from the fruit coming out during cooking. I know mine is stained at the top from my xmas cakes, its like a residue almost? Well i guess it never hurts to be safe, i would get a new 8inch just for other cakes and leave that one for fruit.

I haven't heard that about separate tins , I just use the same tins for eveything !! No probs yet

I will definitely give that hot water trick a go with the buttercream,lili - do you thin your bc down a lot before using ?

Chezz, do you want to hear my scientific theory on how to work out different sizes ??!!
Depending on how much bigger the pan is...I just double or triple the recipe,

TA DA !!!! Then I get extra cake....for the kids



For a smaller tin I use the same recipe & again have extra cake...for the kids

Works for me ! Either way I get extra cake...for the kids

You don't make your own buttercream ? Smart girl !!
( I hate making / using the stuff ! I prefer fondant )

What's the name of the stuff you buy ? It must taste good,right ?

I buy it from the Greensborough Cake Decorating Centre. It's made with the correct shortening and is pure white and tastes nice. Ava loves the stuff and always comes over with her hands out saying 'yumm yumm mumma'. I have added strawberry and lemon flavouring to it but it's nice on it's own. The white colour helps when making up different colours. I also buy my bakels ready to roll there but it's kinda pricey!!!

marchbaby, I don't make fondant (couldn't be bothered) but think I saw a post a while back from sweet_as_tisse about MMF so you might try pm-ing her.

LiliS, I didn't have any luck with the hot spatula just ended up with a big streaky mess it was ages ago before I had any shortening so maybe that had something to do with it or maybe it has something to do with the brand or type of colour used - have you had any probs with streakiness?

no ozcookie, have to say I havent had much problems with streaky messes... so far. Maybe it's the type of buttercream I am using????

It works a treat for me. I also have a large rendering trowel that I use for bigger cakes, when the spatula is too small. Still turns out ok. i have a friend who also makes cakes and she was at the party and thought the cake was covered in fondant. maybe it's my special skill... probably the only!!!!!!!!

Hey there ladies. My busy weekend is over and Olivia's Communion Day was wonderful. I had a tear in my eye when I saw my baby receiving Communion for the first time. Here is a photo of all of us yesterday :

What a beautiful family you have !!