Hi Ladies (and gent)

Another Aussie here from the Central Coast of NSW.  Recently qualified pastry chef (although not a youngie!!!!)lol

Work full time as a chef/pastry chef, looking to expand my knowledge and learn from the cake decorating gurus here!

Nice and chilly and raining here today, which I am enjoying, last day off before a very heavy 7 day work week ahead.

Have a lovely Sunday all :)

Kim

AHi Danilou, if you have a local cake decorating shop thats probably the best place to find good liners, mine always have a bargain bin full of them and as the shop bakes wedding cakes and cup cakes then they will use the best and as someone stated before, they are usually helpful with any advice regarding size, hope that was helpful as I had asked the same question a little while ago. Happy baking!

AHi all, another aussie here from sydney. Nice to meet you all :) Just starting out this new hobby and hoping to learn something new.

A

AThank you :)

Hi Nouha, you will certainly learn plenty of new things if you stick with cake decorating.  There are so many different directions that you can get side tracked into.

AHi, I got a question to ask. I bought a 5Kg bag of red velvet cake mix from Southern Cross Supplies but no instructions on how to prepare it. Can anyone here help?

If it is the Bakels mix -   http://aus.bakels.com/recipe/?show=page&id=4201

If another brand ??   Best to contact Southern Cross direct

AThanx for ur help :)

I dont understand why they dont put instructions on the bag, its like they'r trying to save labels.

AThanks Cher, good to know! I've also found out that Caroline's (in Adelaide) do this as well. They are about 15 minutes from my house to I just email them the image and pick it up in an hour or so. I live edible images!

AJust read the advice for keeping fondant covered cake dry etc. in Perth weather, great advice.....thank you. My question also is......what is the best surface to gloss tiny delicate gumpaste letters on so they wont break when I'm ready to put them on the board?

AI think I put my last post in the wrong place! I thanked you for the advice on keeping fondant covered cake well in Perth climate, I will keep the fan only going when theres a cake around! My question was, what is the best surface to gloss delicate gumpaste letters on to dry without them breaking or sticking to the surface when I want to place them on the final place? Oh! And also, whats your opinion on quilting, the stitching wheel or quilting tool?

If it is anything like the Bakels White Mud cake 15kg bag that I bought................look on the bag at the label.  You will probably find something that says something that might look like this:

xxxg mix, xxxg eggs, xxxg water/oil etc. 

Work out the % of each ingredient to the mix.

Look at your pan and work out how much cake mix that you will need and adjust the % accordingly to get a total mixture mass.

It might have basic instructions as to when to add each ingredient and how long to beat/mix cook (and at the temp) but other than that you will need trial and error.

I think that large bags like that are made for the catering industry with a lot of assumptions as to knowledge/recipies.

Here is a recipe for the Bakels premium red velvet mix that you could adjust to the size pan that you are using.

~500 grams of mix will make approximately 18 cupcakes or a 7 inch round cake (2 inches high)

~~500g Red Velvet Cake Mix

3 med eggs (approx 50g each) 

80 mls water

70mls Vegetable oil.

 Instructions:

1. blend eggs, water, cake mix on low speed for 1 minute.

2. Scrape down.

3. Commence blending on second speed for 2 minutes whilst adding vegetable oil.

4.. Mix for a total of 2 minutes. Do not over mix.

Bake at 160 degrees (slightly lower for a fan forced).

Bake you cake for 35 minutes or cupcakes for approximately 20-25 minutes. ~~Ensure that the oven is not too high.

Cake just spring back when pushed on top - use the skewer test to make sure it has cooked through.

NB-if you are wanting a denser cake, more like a mud, use 2 eggs and 140mls water.

Does this help?

AThanks for the advice. I did the letters on the silicone mat as you suggested and all is good, they havent stuck. Yes, the tool I have has the 3 little wheels so I will use that. Thanks again.

Hi everyone, I have a question to ask. Does anyone know how many of Bakels White Mud cake batter or Bakels Chocolate Mud cake batter is needed for a 6 inch pan, 8 inch pan and a 10 inch pan (round, square...). Thanks.

Welcome to all the new Aussie Posters . There certainly are getting to be quite a few of us in here . 

Thanks, thats a very smart trick with water

I bought a cloths drying rack.  It is essentially a fabric mesh stretched over a frame.  It works a charm as the air circulates all around the fondant.  I have not found anything sticking even with over gooey fondant.   

It can be disassembled and packed away when not in use.  PLUS you can wash the netting part it in the washing machine and sterilise the plastic frame. 

Was really cheap and came in a pack of 3- bonus, so I can use if for all manner of crafty endeavours.    It is big enough to dry a small adult T shirt (approx), so if you are room limited then you might want to buy something specifically designed for fondant drying----- or cut the  plastic frame tubes and fabric down to size if you are crafty enough.

Hello!
Melbourne cakey here!

I've just started my own business this year! Only made my first ever decorated cake in Jan, and it quickly became a passion! Thank god for Cake Central forums, saving many cake dramas this year!

I have a question also, does anyone have a good place to buy cake boards (the thick, sturdy ones) in bulk??? They are sooooo expensive in my local cake supply shops! In bulk would be amazing.

Alisha

Attention Sydney-ites:

I'm having difficulty finding Karo light corn syrup. Anyone know where to buy it? (Am I pushing my luck if I ask preferably in Bondi Junction?) I've been trying for two days. Want to have a go at making modelling chocolate with Wilton Candy Melts and I'm told that regular glucose does not work.

I'm in the US. Only jumping in to give you this link, in case this works for you.

http://cakecentral.com/t/744650/glucose-syrup-vs-corn-syrup-in-modelling-chocolate

You'll do OK. I had to send Karo light corn syrup to my sister in South America, too. She only gets glucose there.

This person does a lot of work with modeling chocolate. 

Good luck!

In Sydney also  :)

I use liquid glucose in modelling chocolate all the time - I warm it up so it is the same temp as the melted chocolate