These tips are great!! Thanks everyone!!

I use paper towels rolls cut length wise in half as flower formers..

I find it very helpful to do any intricate work or rolling out of fondant to cover the cake...after my kids have gone to bed!

One of the best tips I have gotten here that has turned my ENTIRE world upside down is to think outside the box! Seriously I can't look at anything without thinking "how can I use that?" !!

[quote="bobwonderbuns"]I like the washing the dirty tips in a bowl full of hot soapy water in the microwave (I know, I know but it made a believer out of me!)

Ok what! You put the metal tips in the microwave?!? This sounds interesting can someone please explain!

momma_ash -- One of the best tips I have gotten here that has turned my ENTIRE world upside down is to think outside the box! Seriously I can't look at anything without thinking "how can I use that?" !!

I do the same thing. I was looking at textured placemats at lunch for texturing fondant.

[quote="momma_ash"]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobwonderbuns

I like the washing the dirty tips in a bowl full of hot soapy water in the microwave (I know, I know but it made a believer out of me!)

Ok what! You put the metal tips in the microwave?!? This sounds interesting can someone please explain!

It's like this: You take the dirty tips and with your finger plunge out the "big chunks" of frosting. Then I run it under hot water for a moment or two. Then I take the still dirty tips and put them in a GLASS bowl and cover with water (covered about an inch over the tips with water.) Put a couple squirts of Dawn (takes grease out of the way) and nuke for four minutes. Then take the whole shootin match and dump in a strainer and rinse with water and let air dry. And voila -- clean tips!! (Just don't do that with the flower nail -- and don't ask me how I know that...)

How can you put metal in a microwave without causing sparks and fire?

lol..........you don't mean the cake boxes that you fold up?/ I still can't place what you mean....

Well I cannot say it was an original thought and I'm not sure if the other thread even still exists (it was badly corrupted in last year's crash) but I do remember I pitched a living fit about metal in the microwave. Long story short I was politely told to try it and see. I did and I'm telling you, it made a believer out of me!

My tip would be to put Super Sliders (the small size) under the feet of my KitchenAid so it will slide easily on my counter when I need to move it. That thing is tooo heavy to lift and move all the time.

Love all the tips!

When I need to quickly dry some fondant and/or gumpaste, I put it in my food dehydrator. Works like a charm!

Madge -- The cake boxes that you fold (which are thin and flimsy) are the ones I used to use until the trays. The trays are similar to the cake boxes except they are thicker (like a regular box) and do not have a lid.

I love cake tips!!! These are all great! Mine is using the black binder clips to hold the bake-even strips on my pans! No more stabbing myself with those horrible pins!

I bake my cakes at a reduced temperature and do not fill my oven with several pans. Takes a little longer, but makes moister cake and bakes more even.

I like to bake with my convection as well.

I overfill my pans with cake batter to rise above pan so I can cut level with pan. Although I did like the one user that said they put a board in the pan and then slice cake level with pan. Will try that.

I think this is one of the best threads I have read. I love getting ideas from bakers' real life experiences (that you normally don't find in books). I have read every single tip.
I am new to decorating and I am not good at writings on cakes (plus I have bad hand writing all together) so I always look for ways to skip writing. I use rubber stamps (usually found in scrap booking aisles in craft stores) for general messages (lots to choose from). It looks very pretty.

No I color my stamp with food coloring (thinned out, I use clear vanilla) I usually paint with a thin brush on the rubber letters. You can also use different colors if the stamp is an image. Don't use too much food color on the stamp because it will "bleed" (I test stamp first on a piece of fondant). If you take a long time painting or coloring your stamp you could very quickly hold your stamp over some steam to add moisture to the color again. (In scrap booking you can just breathe on the color if it has taken a while but only when it is for paper, not for eating...) There are lots of stamp with any kind of hand writing.

It's like this: You take the dirty tips and with your finger plunge out the "big chunks" of frosting. Then I run it under hot water for a moment or two. Then I take the still dirty tips and put them in a GLASS bowl and cover with water (covered about an inch over the tips with water.) Put a couple squirts of Dawn (takes grease out of the way) and nuke for four minutes. Then take the whole shootin match and dump in a strainer and rinse with water and let air dry. And voila -- clean tips!! (Just don't do that with the flower nail -- and don't ask me how I know that...) [/quote]

Ok I am soo trying this!! I hate washing tips..oh and I only use Dawn it works great!!

If I am using cardboard under the cake I first wrap the cardboard in plastic wrap to prevent it from becoming grease soaked and weak.

I put my Wilton crappy circle underneath my big piece of vinyl. It just saves me having to measure the size of the fondant for smaller cakes!

I am a newbie , and I just wanted to say , this was a wonderful idea to have a thread like this, would have never thought of some of these ideas. Unforunately I don't have any tips yet, sorry. But would like to thank all of you for these wonderful ideas and tips. I have learned so much from this site, and I am on it through out the day just reading and learning so much from all of you guys. I just wanted to say again a big thank you from a beginer like me.

Something I found really useful last weekend was to throw my Wilton leveler in the trash. LOL!

When I bake cakes I try to bake so that they rise above the pan for leveling. If I have extra batter, I either freeze the batter in cupcake cups (THANK YOU to the CC member who said you could freeze batter!) or make cupcakes or a small cake in case I need to bring dessert to a family event.

I like 'Press and seal' plastic wrap for covering cake boards, it's fast and sticks really well!

what an AWESOME thread!!! thanks to all of u for sharing. along comes all of this just when I thought u guys couldn't make me any smarter...

I'm sure someone has thought of this, but just in case I would like to offer one thing I came up with...

When I'm working with candy melts and I have them all sorted and colored and in bags, I get out my heating pad, set it to high, lay it on the bar above where I'm working and cover it with a towel. Then I lay my piping bags on the heating pad. It keeps them just warm enough that I don't have to worry about them and I don't have to rush with what I'm doing. I keep a piece of wax paper/parchment/paper towel, whatever, on the counter under the tips to catch any drips that may happen.

Works great with candy melts in bowls too. It keeps the candy melted at just the right temperatue and I don't have to worry about having to reheat and possibly scorching my candy.

By the way this is a great thread!!!! So much helpful information, as usual from the wonderful CC community!! I liked to bake and decorate cakes when I found this site, now, it's an obsession/passion/addiction and I'm having more fun than ever!