Craigslist is going to be full of people who say "Okay just bought my Duff line of supplies, I'm ready to sell you a cake!" haha.

Hi
for those of you who haven't tried Fondarific, it really is easier to work with and tastes pretty good. If Duff has his name on it, doesn't matter. It's a very good product. it's also more expensive, but the time savings is a factor. I stopped using Satin Ice because it's too soft and switched to Bakels pettinice. not bad. I have tried them all. every brand out there. I buy pettinice for savings and add fondarific to it 50/50 to make it easier to work with. you don't need anything on the table/mat to roll out fondarific. really. (I sometimes do the same with Fondx to save the higher cost of Fondarific.) If I can get Fondarific with a Michael's discount coupon, I don't care who has his/her picture is on the tub.

oh, and the best tasting black or red fondant is Choco Pan colors-by a mile. Choco pan is white (or dark) chocolate and hands down has the best flavor but in the white colors is the stickiest and stretchiest. lots of practice needed for it. not for beginners. their colored ones have an easier texture to work with. powdered color must help with the sticky factor? not sure, but that is what I buy when I need dark colors. the dark chocolate they sell is delicious. the choco-pan web site sell it a good price and they ship really quickly. nice company.

yeah. I never use Pettinice "straight." The only 100% fondant type I use is Choco-pan. everything else is an amalgam for whatever the project demands. I am a mixologist when it comes to fondant.

Yup. I guess everyone's entitled to his/her own opinion. Or maybe not. I haven't been a member here too long, so I don't really know all the 'unspoken rules' about what folks find acceptable. I read the Terms & Conditions when I signed up, but in any community there are always 'rules' which are not written up.

yeah. OBL. that was probably too harsh and shouldn't have been on there. don't want to get anyone irritated over a joke, but people were tough on Duff Goldman. I think the man is really talented and he has really sparked an interest in cakes that wasn't there before. Celeb chef named products and endorsements are big business. the cakers haven't really had any until now. If he can inspire people and make some money while his show is hot, more power to him. no need to make fun of him.

I wasn't referring to people like you CarrieBear.



Wow touchy thread on many levels...whoda thunk?

Michaels will also be selling the Cricut Cake when it comes out. I heard this news from my store manager along with the Duff products and a whole new line of cake pans that are suppossed to be better than wilton. I am a Wilton instructor but I am hearing that these will be the new cake pans.

I'm thinking he switched and started talking about it right around the time he licensed to sell Fondarific. I actually really like Satin Ice Red. It's a perfect romantic red and easy to work with. I'm sure his prices are going to be higher (they have to pay him) but with the 40% coupon from Michael's ... I'm kind of excited to pick some up.

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Originally Posted by newmansmom2004

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Originally Posted by candicemorgannicholson

It says on Fondarific's website that Duff uses them. Is this not true? I know uses though. Now I am really confused.

I've heard Duff talk about Fondarific on his show so he must use it. He did use but I'm guessing as he's found out about some of the newer and tastier products, like Fondarific, he's venturing out just like all of us do.

I noticed that his 2 lb. container of rolled fondant is $9.00 on one site and $17 on another and it's the same size container with the exact same product inside!!!

On a side note, I don't know how Michael's makes any money with all the coupons and competitors coupons they accept on everything. haha.

Don't kid yourself - There is plenty of markup so even with a coupon they are still making a small profit. Also most people buy one coupon item plus a few small items (5 dollars or less) which jumps up their profit because the coupon got you into the store when you may otherwise have not come in. The items they don't allow coupon use for are the ones that they would lose money on. There is more profit in retail on most small items than there is on the big ticket items.

From what I hear, the Duff products are better than Wiltons. I don't see where the gimmick is.

I've priced some of the same products a Michaels and Wal-Mart. Wallyworld's prices are almost the same as Michaels 40% discount price. I wouldn't worry about Michael's profit margin.

Hey ladies,
regardless of who puts it out going through Michael's places it in a lot more communities and makes it more available to people who might otherwise have to have it shipped in.
With a coupon, if you buy the paper you can get it cheaper. However, Michaels sometimes limits what you can get with that coupon. You can no longer buy books, certain machines etc...so you never know what they will exclude in the future.

A lot of stuff has 400% mark up (not just Michaels) and remember a great many products are made in China for pennies which is why they make a profit. The loss leaders are what get you in the door.

As for Duff, he is like everyone else. If his name gets out there that is what he is looking for to make money. Being in Baltimore only gives him so much of a market, this way he is going to be exposed to more people.

Last year, at the Queen City Cake Competition (Cincinnati OH) the volunteers were having to tell people that "no these cakes are not from Ace of Cakes".
People actually thought the competition was a display of his work in Cincinnati!

So whatever gets people interested is great. Art is Art afterall edible or not.

The gimmick is in the marketing. It has nothing to do with how good the product is. I would hope that Duff put his face on a good product that he feels confident about because if it wasn't a good product it wouldn't be so good to have a person's face attached to it. The fondant could have been marketed under their own and done well in the market name but they realized celebrity endorsemant could positively impact sales by a large increase over what they could do alone -- hence the gimmick. A celebrity face will get people to buy it even if they have no idea what to do with it. Not all people will fall for it but many will. Other people will buy it because it is another option that is more readily available regardless of the packaging. The gimmick of Celebrity endorsement opens their product up to sales of a whole new demographic of people.

I think the folks at CCC are incredible artists. I say artists, because they create art with their hands. Now, I've never eaten one of their CAKES, but I'm assuming that the SHEET CAKE they mostly include with their PIECE OF ART is delicious too; but people are mainly buying their ART.

I worry, as a lot of you do, that the *I can't think of how to characterize the cake-mix-frosting-jar cake maker* will see the kits in michaels as they are browsing through the character cake pans and think that they can create this art just like the pros (not claiming to be a pro, but I do a decent cookie business).

I have a story: A lady called and ordered three dozen "wedding cookies" from me. As she put it "the round ones covered in powdered sugar". Okay, I did that. THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING she called and asked me for my recipe for fondant. Okay.... no. She was actually in the bakery department of the grocery store asking them their recipe too. I asked her why and she said she was making her own cake and wanted to cover it in fondant. I told her it wasn't as easy as she thought it was, then she said she'd call me back.

SO she calls me back later and tells me she stopped a stranger and asked her the same question. Turns out this stranger happened to be a "baker" and offered to make the cake for her. My customer said "I will make the cake and bring it to you, you just cover it in white fondant."

OKAY I GOT to the wedding (with my cookies) and there was a three layer round cake loosely covered in wrinkled fondant and the top two layers had SUNK into the bottom. She had brought the three layers to the baker, the baker had covered them in fondant and given them back to her and she'd just set them on top of each other, wrapped a ribbon around the bottom edges and stuck some silk flowers on top.

LONG STORY I'M SORRY - but moral of it is. They can think all they want that they can do what 'the pros' do.... in the end. 90% of them can't. They can stick store bought pre-made bubbles and swirls on a cake until the cows come home. Only a handful of people have real talent. You people on this forum are amazing bakers/decorators/artists in your own right. You are what they aspire to be... and in the end they will spend more money trying to imitate you, than if they'd just order from you in the first place.

Duff's stuff is a money making adventure. I can't, in good faith, say that I feel he is actually trying to help people out. But I don't know him. I will try his fondant, but in my very own humble opinion - I'm pretty sure it won't stack up to MMF - especially on my cookies!



I apologize for the long rant.

In marketing language, a gimmick is a quirky feature that distinguishes a product or service without adding any obvious function or value. From what I hear, the fondant is pretty darn good.

Very interesting thread. I can't wait to try his black (with a coupon); if it is good, I'll use it. Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing for CCers - just think of all the folks with Wilton character pans who still order cakes from Pros. A couple of years ago, interior design was this huge tv trend - demonstrating ways to transform your own home with a touch of paint and flourish of fabric in 60 minutes. While many of us thought "Wow! I can do that", went out and bought supplies, etc. the results weren't always the greatest and interior designers, consultants, and home stagers are still around. Don't you think a LOT of folks are going to give cake a shot only to discover "this isn't as easy as it looks"....?

I don't think it is a gimmick at all. I think it is great that the consumer now has another option. Cake decorators and average bakers at home can be creative in their own way. No gimmick about that as long as the product is good and easy to use.

I know, almost everyone who sees my pictures ask me if I watch "that cake show" (I dunno, there are like 4 or 5 of them now if you count ultimate cake off and all the challenges!). They also tell me I should be on tv but I laugh at that one....I'm like "Ohhhh my you don't even KNOW how good cake people can be....visit cake central!" haha.

That's weird... I wasn't getting notices about this thread. Anywho...

I, for one, am excited for this product not just because it has Duff's face/name on it, but because it'll give this small county a new choice for buying different products (mainly fondant) locally. We have a Michaels. We JUST got a Hobby Lobby. Besides those two, we have ONE other place we can buy caking products and that is also very limited.

I talked to my manager and she said that our store will be getting the Duff stuff (hey, i like it!) down the road, but that she couldn't say anything else about it. I thought that was strange? I wonder why?