One Thing I Noticed While Watching Cake Shows On Tv

Decorating By sweetlayers Updated 15 May 2011 , 5:28am by Shadowess

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sweetlayers Posted 6 May 2011 , 2:55am
post #1 of 30

When I'm watching those cake shows on tv, I NEVER see any of them using an agbay or wilton torter blade to cut their cakes in half sideways to fill or tort.

It seems to me that if they don't use a serrated knife, they simply bake 3 to 4 thin layers in different pans and then stack them. In one case I saw a designer bake one huge thin sheet cake, then take these giant rings (like super huge cookie cutters) to cut out the sizes of the cake she needed.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I'd like to know if any of you do this from your home kitchen or bakery? If you do, what would you say are the major problems? If you don't, what would you say are the advantages?

Just wondering...

TIA

29 replies
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SpeciaLKay14 Posted 6 May 2011 , 3:08am
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I Always use a sheet pan and my cake rings to cut exactly what size/shape I need. Its been a great investment and the best thing for me so far.....also i fill and stack them inside of the rings(usually 3 or 4 inches high) and just pop them out when its chilled. Comes out perfect! hope this helps icon_biggrin.gif

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m_willford Posted 6 May 2011 , 4:02am
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That's what I do, bake thin layers in my cake pans instead of torting. My Wilton leveler is a piece of junk, and no way do I have the money for an agbay. If I have to lop a little off the top, I do, but for the most part they come out level enough. I just started doing this actually, and I find that my thinner layers stay together better when being moved onto the cake, unlike torted which tend to fall apart on me. Even a 12x18 sheet moved well when I was stacking the layers! Probably because now each "layer" of the tier has a baked bottom, which seems to add the support. Plus, fewer crumbs. For me anyway.

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CWR41 Posted 6 May 2011 , 4:52am
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Unless you don't own cake pans, I don't see any advantages to using cake rings to cut the size you need from full sheet cakes. I certainly wouldn't like to attempt to ice cake layers with raw crumbly edges. From a production standpoint, that's surely more time consuming.

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ApplegumPam Posted 6 May 2011 , 5:34am
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Only thing I have learnt from watching those cake shows on TV - is that it rarely imitates a REAL LIFE scenario!

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indydebi Posted 6 May 2011 , 5:53am
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i've seen them use big knives to tort their cakes ..... because I always notice that they dont' seem to care if they get it straight .... and they just plop a lot of filling in there to make it level. ANd i notice this because I'm sitting there going "ewwwwwww!"

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Rendee Posted 6 May 2011 , 6:30am
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I just use diff. size cake pans and make each layer a 2 inch layer to get a 4 inch tall cake w/ filling in between the two layers. The only time I torte my cakes is if I am just doing a single 2 inch layer. I have thought about using a cake rings at times but I hate the thought of having all those cake scraps left over and running out of ideas of what to do w/ them! icon_lol.gif

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tyty Posted 6 May 2011 , 6:33am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

i've seen them use big knives to tort their cakes ..... because I always notice that they dont' seem to care if they get it straight .... and they just plop a lot of filling in there to make it level. ANd i notice this because I'm sitting there going "ewwwwwww!"




LOL, I notice that too. I always wonder why they are not too worried about being perfectly level.

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sweetlayers Posted 6 May 2011 , 1:04pm
post #9 of 30

Very interesting. I think it would be less trouble to just bake three 1" high cakes instead of 2" high ones for the 3 layered look when you cut it. However, that means I'd have to buy more pans and that is not in my budget!

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jdconcc Posted 6 May 2011 , 1:30pm
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I get sheet cakes from my baker so I use rings alot too, but wouldn't be without my Agbay... unlike the tv decorators i do care if mine are level or not. They are a pain to b/c the sides though icon_sad.gif

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sweetlayers Posted 6 May 2011 , 2:01pm
post #11 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdconcc

I get sheet cakes from my baker so I use rings alot too, but wouldn't be without my Agbay... unlike the tv decorators i do care if mine are level or not. They are a pain to b/c the sides though icon_sad.gif




And your cakes are not just level, they are fabulous!

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CalhounsCakery Posted 6 May 2011 , 2:26pm
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I bake thin layers of cake instead of torting. Like others, I find it's easier to manage and I hate torting. I have my Wilton leveler to take the tops off to make sure they are all 1" high, than my family eats all the tops!

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sweetflowers Posted 6 May 2011 , 3:44pm
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If my 2" layer is level to begin with, it doesn't matter if I torte it evenly. I fit it back together and it's still level. However, I use dental floss to torte mine.

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warchild Posted 6 May 2011 , 7:29pm
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I remember the days of long ago when my very grown kids were little of only having 1 1/2 inch cake pans and torting each baked layer with a bread knife nice and even lickity split. I could have those layers torted, filled, and stacked (but it wasn't called stacked then), it was put second layer on top of first layer and repeat until all layers are used. icon_razz.gif

But.... Once I took my first lesson in cake decorating, its was ooh, I have to have 2 inch pans, ooh I have to have the wilton levelers, big one and the small one (bleh!) and ooh, I must make sure I spend way to much time fussing and fretting over torting my layers just so!

I swear since that first set of Wilton lessons, I've never had the confidence, nor the relaxed feeling I used to have, of being able to torte a cake layer so easily, and most of all, so evenly!

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Gerle Posted 6 May 2011 , 7:45pm
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The one thing I've really noticed about a lot of the cake shows is that their "creations" aren't really much cake. There's more uneatable pieces to the cake than real cake. They need to change their show names to something relating to decorating something other than cake. I realize it is a form of art and some of it is really good, but if it isn't at least 75% cake, it shouldn't be called a cake challenge or cake decorating. But that's just my opinion.

I have one of the Wilton levelers and don't care for it at all, but its all I have for right now. I've actually been using my bread knife to try and level. Sometimes I do well, sometimes I don't do so well. I'd like to get the Agbay, but DH says no. If I had a business, he'd get it for me in a heartbeat, but since I'm a hobby baker, he doesn't see the justification of paying so much for a "cake cutter" as he calls it. I got a saw blade from the hardware store to try and replace the cutter wire on the Wilton as someone on CC said that's what they did and it worked like a charm, just haven't gotten it switched yet. I use the baking strips on my cake pans, though, so they come out pretty even and I don't have to level, but I torte any way as my family likes the fillings in the cakes.

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warchild Posted 6 May 2011 , 8:16pm
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One of my friends bought me a dalson cake layer slicer years ago and between it and my serated knife, I can usually get an nice even cut. I use the knife first and cut into the layer about an inch on all sides, then use the slicer to finish cutting the layer. The slicer looks just like fishing line but has a roundish tube shaped thing on one end with a tiny paddle on the other end to hold on to if you need to. Pic of what it looks like is on the link. Once my layers are cut, before I take them apart for filling, I put a T pin on top of and under one side of the cut I've made in the same spot. That way when the filling is added and its time to put the top piece onto the bottom piece, I match up the pins so I know which side is the matching side.

http://cookshoppl.cart.net.au/details/596158.html

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gildee Posted 6 May 2011 , 8:31pm
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Ok Sweetlayer don't get hung up on those TV shows, I used to watched them religiously but then I finally saw that they bring baked cakes and forms to use and this started me thinking, they already know and have planned just what they are going to do and still don't get the job done in the 9 hres alloted time, LOL. ...it is absolutely impossible for anyone or four ppl to make a cake like they do in these shows in 9 hrs! that is usually the Ultimate cake or Challange that shows these unrealistic cake decorators designing and decoration a cake 6 - 7 feet high, I now watch Amazing Cakes on the WE network where more realistic bakers and designers are at work and they are only baking one normal cake at a time that is being paid for by a real customer with some added realism in place. icon_biggrin.gif

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HeyWife Posted 8 May 2011 , 12:45am
post #18 of 30

I was watching "Have Cake Will Travel" and noticed she had an Agbay on her counter but never saw her use it....

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jenmat Posted 8 May 2011 , 1:05am
post #19 of 30

ok, so since we're talking cake shows, and I'm a student of Amazing Wedding Cakes (am watching season 3 right now with Itunes), did you notice the CakeGirls (again, season 3) make their tall-looking tiers not with cake, but with about 5 cardboard circles under each cake? So really they are serving 4" tiers that look like 5" tiers. I really like that idea because realistically I like my tiers to be 5" tall, but that is a huge amount of cake, and I never thought about making it up with cake boards. Tried it just this last cake and it was so cool because the cake was super sturdy too. And 5" tiers are harder to plate, so you get the best of both worlds.

I know most people on here poo poo the cake shows, but I seriously love them and have to sit extra close to the screen to be sure not to miss anything. My policy is that there is ALWAYS something to learn from every resource, no matter how silly or "fake" it may be.

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imagenthatnj Posted 8 May 2011 , 1:15am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jentreu

ok, so since we're talking cake shows, and I'm a student of Amazing Wedding Cakes (am watching season 3 right now with Itunes), did you notice the CakeGirls (again, season 3) make their tall-looking tiers not with cake, but with about 5 cardboard circles under each cake? So really they are serving 4" tiers that look like 5" tiers. I really like that idea because realistically I like my tiers to be 5" tall, but that is a huge amount of cake, and I never thought about making it up with cake boards. Tried it just this last cake and it was so cool because the cake was super sturdy too. And 5" tiers are harder to plate, so you get the best of both worlds.

I know most people on here poo poo the cake shows, but I seriously love them and have to sit extra close to the screen to be sure not to miss anything. My policy is that there is ALWAYS something to learn from every resource, no matter how silly or "fake" it may be.




I think Amazing Wedding Cakes are great to have. I have bought all the seasons on iTunes too, including Season 4, which downloads to my computer every Monday morning after it airs for the first time the night before. I love them all, and I think there's a lot to be learned on those. The only one I skip because it's terrifying is one of the three shows that the guy Vinny (sp?) did. He puts 48 dowels on a cake. I hope nobody learns to do it that way!

http://www.wetv.com/amazing-wedding-cakes/videos/amazing-wedding-cakes-topsy-turvy-2

Other than that, every lesson has been good on AWC. I've seen also the extra inch that gets added to the tiers sometimes with either cardboard or styrofoam.

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kakeladi Posted 8 May 2011 , 2:56am
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I was watching a rerun? of one of the shows the other night. For the taste testing part one of the judges mentioned how she liked that fact that there was only one layer of filling between two layers of cake. No need for torting anymoreicon_smile.gif

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rosey422 Posted 8 May 2011 , 3:08am
post #22 of 30

I bake 2" layers too . it takes more bake time but they are easy to handle and stack. this works for me I saw the ring method and was wondering what they did with the leftover cake? I also saw him piece it together inside the mold so what happens when you cut it???

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indydebi Posted 8 May 2011 , 4:21am
post #23 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosey422

I bake 2" layers too . it takes more bake time but they are easy to handle and stack. this works for me I saw the ring method and was wondering what they did with the leftover cake? I also saw him piece it together inside the mold so what happens when you cut it???



I was hired by a couple, once, JUST for the sole purpose of coming in and cutting their cake (bought at a local bakery) for them. Easy money, so I did it. Evidently this bakery uses the Tetris Puzzle method of putting their cakes together, because when I cut it, I noticed lots of "joints" in the cake rather than one baked cake. It cut ok (all joints were glued together with icing) but it really looked odd.

Funny ..... this bakery advertises how it never freezes its cakes and I had a slight problem cutting the still-partially-frozen bottom tier! icon_eek.gificon_lol.gif

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kaseynh Posted 8 May 2011 , 4:37am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imagenthatnj



I think Amazing Wedding Cakes are great to have. I have bought all the seasons on iTunes too, including Season 4, which downloads to my computer every Monday morning after it airs for the first time the night before. I love them all, and I think there's a lot to be learned on those. The only one I skip because it's terrifying is one of the three shows that the guy Vinny (sp?) did. He puts 48 dowels on a cake. I hope nobody learns to do it that way!

http://www.wetv.com/amazing-wedding-cakes/videos/amazing-wedding-cakes-topsy-turvy-2

Other than that, every lesson has been good on AWC. I've seen also the extra inch that gets added to the tiers sometimes with either cardboard or styrofoam.




I watched that episode too and was amazed at the amount of dowels he used. With that many dowels how does one cut whats left of the cake?

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rosey422 Posted 8 May 2011 , 5:39am
post #25 of 30

I find that when i freeze my layers overnite and stack fill and dirty ice the next day my cake stays moist. then the next day i do fondant if just buttercream i do same day. I have definatley had no complaints everybody loves my moist yummy cake. they say it is so nice to get a beautiful cake that tastes good too!

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alleykat1 Posted 8 May 2011 , 5:53am
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imagenthatnj omg I saw that too and wondered how anyone could get a slice of cake from that with all the holes in it!

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Karen421 Posted 8 May 2011 , 11:49am
post #27 of 30

I was kind of shocked also, I thought for sure with that many dowels, the cake was going to fall apart from all the holes!! icon_smile.gif

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Jess1019 Posted 8 May 2011 , 3:42pm
post #28 of 30

Actually, one of the tiers did split open. I think he displaced a lot of the cake using that many dowels. As the client I would have been upset, it was no doubt a mess when sliced to serve.

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gildee Posted 14 May 2011 , 2:13am
post #29 of 30

I am with u Jentreu, I try to learn something from everyshow I watch and usually do; in my are learning is approx 35 miles away and not convienient so I tape the shows for future reference but I am interested in kn owing how to use Itunes to download the shows as it seems they are being watched by some b4 it airs on tv!

Also ladies, that guy Vinny is getting his own show airing sometime in June (I think) so I do like him and plan on watching his show.

Have cake will travel.......NO! I do not see any reason for going to unfamiliar kitchens and making cakes like there is know other designers around?

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Shadowess Posted 15 May 2011 , 5:28am
post #30 of 30

I do enjoy the various shows and I do get some tips from them.
Like the quilting on fondant, which I did on a cake and my friend thought it was "the coolest thing ever, and how did you do that?"

As for the leveling, I tend to flop back and forth between my wilton leveler and using a large bread knife. I usually give it a whirl with the wilton leveler but sometimes the edge of the cake is too hard to cut with the wire, so I just pull out the knife and freehand it.

One thing that annoys me with those cake shows is it makes my friends think they can ask me for these outrageous cakes. The shows don't often explain that it takes hours (and sometimes days) to create those cakes. One of my friends it really bad with that, she tells someone "Oh I'll make the cake for your baby shower. Oh yes I can do whatever you like, yeah (insert crazy cake requests here) no problem!" Then she calls me and says "Oh so I need you to 'help' me make a cake, it's going to be (insert crazy cake request), do you think we could do that?"

*shakes head* my friend needs to stop watching Cake Boss before she promises to make cakes for people. *lol*
~Shadowess

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