I'm in country W.A. and we can buy the Karo at our IGA so I would think that your larger city IGAs would stock it.  If not ask, they might get it in for you.

AHello fellow Aussies!

About glucose vs corn syrup - I made four batches of modelling chocolate last week, two using corn syrup and two using glucose.

The results were fairly similar. I just find the glucose very difficult to work with. So sticky, and little strings of it go everywhere. At least the Karo syrup pours nicely.

My weakness is knowing when the chocolate is thoroughly melted. I microwave mine, and I stir, and think it looks melted, and can't see any lumps or bumps. But when my chocolate is set and I start kneading it, I notice its full of little solid pieces of chocolate. That stand out as white against the coloured part. Which I am assuming are due to them not being totally melted when I combine my chocolate with glucose.

So my challenge this week is to make modelling chocolate with PROPERLY melted chocolate. Lol. How hard can that be?

I haven't been around for some time - been busy caking @@ - so hello to all the Aussie cakers and bakers who have posted since i visited last.....

Bluehue :)

AHave just been given the news that my partner is giving me a dehumidifier for christmas!!

Hello,

I know that you sourced some Light Karo.........this is for those who still aren't able to easily access it.

USA foods Downunder as located in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin (Victoria), but they do have a mail order service which I use when I am unable to get down there.  Their  they have a good postage system, keeping you informed of where your order is at.  Postage price is not bad- unless you want priority delivery then you would pay extra for it.

http://www.usafoods.com.au/Contact-Us

The Asian foodstore opposite the organic section at the Victoria market also sell Karo light and dark syrup.  It is cheap too so I stock up when I see it.

Never managed to find any at Costco though........................

sorry about the typos......................not watching what I type lol

essentialingredient.com.au also has karo but it is expensive.

Wuss, Gails.  Where's the fun in not sticking to the icing as you are trying to shape it. How will you get your swearing practice in. Or having it self destruct and melt into liquid piles at the bottom of your cake (This was new to me when we shifted here as I had come from an exceedingly dry climate).

Not bad prices.

I can also vouch for their email notification system for when an item is not in stock. I have ordered on line when I get an email that a product is back in.  Then sit nice and comfy waiting for it to arrive and saving myself lots and lots of money on impulse buys if I went to their store....  lol

AHi fellow bakers,

Quick question (which may sound silly), Im making SMBC and I was wondering I need to make 2 batches of one being red colour and the other green colour, for cupcake decorating, can I add the food colouring in at the end when I'm finished or does it have to be during the mixing process?

Thank you

:) Cbeg

A

Will do, thanks heaps for that :)

Sometimes, you'll need a ton of color to get it dark. You might have trouble with the red especially, depending on what kind of color brand you're using. Here are some links I have about coloring SMBC. I've colored IMBC (about the same thing) to dark blues, at the end of the mixing, but I've needed to do it slowly because it kind of gets watery sometimes. Some people think it's best to add color before you add the butter.

http://cakecentral.com/t/739227/coloring-smbc-and-imbc

http://cakecentral.com/t/755113/coloring-smbc

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
READ Madhulika Dev comment

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/more-about-swiss-meringue-buttercream-like-my-other-post-wasnt-long-enough-i-had-to-go-write-another-epic-post/

Maybe someone else will come with more advice.

AThanks heaps imagenthatnj, very helpful links, plus I bought Americolor colouring the other day without thinking if it would work and I red in the links you put up, that's what they used and it seemed to work, so I'll try and experiment and we shall see, I'll keep you posted

Thanks again

:)

A

AYou're welcome. I do think there's an oil-based Americolor that's better.

http://www.globalsugarart.com/red-oil-based-candy-color-ounces-by-americolor-p-24009.html

I never got to buy and use those since lately I just make the ocassional cupcakes. But if you ever see those, buy one or two because oil-based will be better for your SMBC. I think the regular Americolor are water-based and they will work, but you might have to add them before the butter. I hope it all works for you.

Will do. I`ll go buy some oil-based ones and use the other Americolor ones for colouring the mixture of the cakes and cupcakes. I just dont want to stuff up the icing and then it falls all over the place, as i have experienced before and it was not good lol 

:) 

AThanx derbyfour, I ended up messaging the company and they sent me instructions.

Happy New Year everyone.  Hope it's going better than mine.  Needed to have a whinge and where better than here, especially as I was turning green thinking about Gails and her new dehumidifier.  Have had a stressful few weeks and as hubby is away for the weekend I thought I would put everything out of my mind and play with icing.  Well the temp hit 47.8C yesterday so after 1 round of petals on 3 practice roses I gave up.  I then made Chelle's passionfruit mudcake recipe (Delicious- I've been eating the trimmings) and made the white ganache so that it would set up overnight.  Well this morning when I tried to ganache the cake it just ran straight off and my filled 4 one inch layers became a leaning tower of piza.  With the help of the fridge I got it straightened and finally got a reasonably smooth layer of ganache on and let it set.  I rolled together all my left over bits of blue fondant from last year and rolled it on in 'The Mat'.  Well no sooner had I peeled the mat away than the fondant started to sweat like mad.  By the time I had eased it down the 5 inch sides of my 6 inch cake it was dripping.  Fortunately it went on reasonably smoothly because all it did was stick to the smoother.  I gave up the idea of any smoothing extremely quickly. (It is only 32C with 61% humidity so I thought it would be fine).  I have left it on the table and am hoping that it will dry out somewhat overnight as I was hoping to play with one of my new onlays.  Any suggestions on how to dry it out gladly accepted (apart from turning the air conditioner on).  Would a fan blowing on it for an hour or so help, do you think?

Sorry to hear of your stressful few weeks cazza... hopefully the rest of 2014 will brighten up for you :)

Certainly - turn your fan on and place you cake in line of the breeze and it will start to dry out in no time...the fan doesn't have to be on *the gale force* setting - lolll

I have ceiling fans and when it gets to hot (like yesterday and today 40+) thats what i do.

Leave my cakes under the ceiling fans  and it works a treat for me.... great for drying the fondant covered boards in a hurry too   ;)

Bluehue

Thanks Bluehue.  2014 is not shaping up to be one of our better years and there is no relief in the immediate future but we are strong and will get through it.  Quality caking time will make all the difference to me. Helps distract from things that you cannot do anything about except weather the storm and handhold. I will leave the cake by the open side door for now and if it is still sticky in the morning I will put a fan on it so I can play with it in the afternoon.  It has a few airbubbles and tiny creases but between the colour and the onlays I am sure that they will not be too noticable.  And I'm only doing it for myself anyway.  At least now I know what to do in the future if I am being impatient or if I have the type of cake that will not stay fresh.