Why can't cake places sell small bottles of Everclear as "airbrush dust fluid" or something? I can't figure out howcome I can buy lemon extract that is 80% alcohol, and mint extract which is 90% alcohol, but can't buy a bottle of something tasteless in order to use for painting or airbrush.
Also as a side, I use the stuff for painting or airbrushing cakes...but I do not go into liquor stores or buy bottles of liquor, its pretty much against my beliefs. Plus I don't want my kids seeing that stuff in my house since we don't drink. But I would love to be able to buy the liquid in like an extract bottle or something expressly for cake decorators. Is this something illegal for cake supply places to sell?
Most places I know of have to have a liqure license to sell stuff like that & employees have to take a class & get a license as well. I worked at plantation in the restaurant & all of us had to take the class since alcohol was served on site. Some states only a state store can sell alcohol.
The difference is that people don't buy vanilla or lemon extract with plans to drink it very often and everclear is often used for mixed drinks and stuff. It's an ingredient in a popular drink around here and if kids could get it at a cake store just the sale of that would support the store.
I guess I don't really see the difference in going to a different store to buy it, either way you're supporting the people making it and it would probably cost way more at the cake store. That's just me of course.
Do you have a friend who wouldn't mind going for you? Then maybe you could find a different container to store it in if you don't want your kids seeing the bottle.
Hmmm no well I guess you could call it a "religious" thing...I know my money sometimes goes to support places like that (actually not too often since most places in PA have to have a special license, you can't get liquor at the grocery stores here) but although I know some ingredients contain alcohol, I'm not going to buy alcohol that is made for drinking.
That's why I wish cake places would sell something specifically for painting with, whether everclear or a different formula.
You do not a license to paint with Everclear. It evaporates on contact pretty much. I know that you do not want to buy it bit tehy might sell them in the teeny tiny bottles.
Where at? The high proof is illegal in PA...
I would send you some if it was not considered hazardous! They have tiny bottles at the liquor store which I have seen i thought??? You can also use any high proof vodka. It just has to have a high proof.
You are not selling alcohol.....it just evaporates! No worries! I use it all the time. Mine is 151 proof.
I would send you some if it was not considered hazardous! They have tiny bottles at the liquor store which I have seen i thought??? You can also use any high proof vodka. It just has to have a high proof.
You are not selling alcohol.....it just evaporates! No worries! I use it all the time. Mine is 151 proof.
Hmmm ok. Well I don't go into liquor stores.... oh well.
I'm not worried about selling it, because of evaporation... mostly just the fact that its pretty much against my convictions to go in and buy a bottle of vodka. LOL. I know it sounds weird to many but that's just how it is.
In Australia, a lot of decorators use rose essence which is 95% alcohol. We can buy it from cake decorating stores in small bottles - it evaporates leaving no taste or smell.
Cris.
If you are wanted everclear you are either going to have to go buy it or have someone else buy it for you.
I understand having a religious reason for not wanting to, but it looks like you are just going to have to go to the store to buy it or find something else to use. Sorry.
In Australia, a lot of decorators use rose essence which is 95% alcohol. We can buy it from cake decorating stores in small bottles - it evaporates leaving no taste or smell.
Cris.
That sounds cool, can it be ordered?
you know, i really wonder about the whole "it entirely evaporates" thing. janh posted a link on here a couple of times that has a list of how much alcohol evaporates through different cooking methods. for just sitting out on the counter (which is the category i assume decorating on cakes falls into) this link says 70% of the alcohol is STILL there. only 30% evaporates. and in baking for 30 minutes something like 40% is still there. i also do not drink alcohol, so i think i'll only use vodka/everclear on decorations that won't be eaten (like bows and gumpaste flowers and such). and i'll stick to lemon extract other wise. i just wish that lemon extract wasn't so expensive! it costs about $5 for a tiny bottle of lemon extract or a huge thing of crappy vodka.
In Australia, a lot of decorators use rose essence which is 95% alcohol. We can buy it from cake decorating stores in small bottles - it evaporates leaving no taste or smell.
Cris.
I have just discovered this in New Zealand too, I was a bit disappointed to find that it didn't have a very 'rose'ey smell but when I saw the alcohol content I thought I would just use it for painting instead. Saves the absinthe for its proper use!
you know, i really wonder about the whole "it entirely evaporates" thing. janh posted a link on here a couple of times that has a list of how much alcohol evaporates through different cooking methods. for just sitting out on the counter (which is the category i assume decorating on cakes falls into) this link says 70% of the alcohol is STILL there. only 30% evaporates. and in baking for 30 minutes something like 40% is still there. i also do not drink alcohol, so i think i'll only use vodka/everclear on decorations that won't be eaten (like bows and gumpaste flowers and such). and i'll stick to lemon extract other wise. i just wish that lemon extract wasn't so expensive! it costs about $5 for a tiny bottle of lemon extract or a huge thing of crappy vodka.
We are talking about a teaspoon here. And dried up for that matter. It all has alcohol....extract....everclear.
Everyone should use what makes them comfortable.
i painted several coats of luster dust on a large part of the pink pillow cake in my pics. used a LOT more than just a tsp. i also needed to use extract to thin the blue paste colors to paint on the small cake for that one. used a lot of extract for the darn cake, and i used it on the mmf frosting, which i expected a lot of people to eat. it was for a 3 year olds b-day, do you think its makes a difference to the parents of the kids whether i used everclear or lemon extract? maybe in a study or experiment there would have been no difference, but i feel a lot better telling parents that their cake hasn't been painted all over with vodka/everclear.
you know, i really wonder about the whole "it entirely evaporates" thing. janh posted a link on here a couple of times that has a list of how much
Have you ever left everclear in a little bowl sitting on the counter? If you do before too long there will be nothing left in the bowl. I have had to add more everclear to something while I was working with it because it was evaporating too fast. I had a shot glass with everclear and luster dust, only the dry luster dust is left behind now.
That is true... alcohol, especially vodka will evaporate when left out on the counter, leaving you with just the luster dust.
But please please please... for those including alcohol in the actual cakes, remember it does not completely evaporate from the cake while baking. Especially since cakes are covered with icing etc. and not directly exposed to air for long periods of time.
My bf is severly allergic to alcohol and will have a reaction to cakes baked with a minimal amount of alcohol (1 tsp or less)!! So please be careful.
Thanks!
you know, i really wonder about the whole "it entirely evaporates" thing. janh posted a link on here a couple of times that has a list of how much
Have you ever left everclear in a little bowl sitting on the counter? If you do before too long there will be nothing left in the bowl. I have had to add more everclear to something while I was working with it because it was evaporating too fast. I had a shot glass with everclear and , only the dry is left behind now.
Thanks!! That is exactly what I was trying to get at. Everclear evaporates more than a extract.
But please please please... for those including alcohol in the actual cakes, remember it does not completely evaporate from the cake while baking.
cripes...I was always under the impression the alcohol content is eliminated by heat. (think flambe pancakes etc) We have always had some kind of alcohol in our Xmas cakes and puddings. I will have to watch that.
But please please please... for those including alcohol in the actual cakes, remember it does not completely evaporate from the cake while baking.
cripes...I was always under the impression the alcohol content is eliminated by heat. (think flambe pancakes etc) We have always had some kind of alcohol in our Xmas cakes and puddings. I will have to watch that.
it varies by cooking time but have you ever got hammered on christmas pudding!
I know part of what is bothering me about this thread is due to the fact that I am sick and feeling awful. But honestly ths is one of the silliest post subjects I have ever read and makes no sense to me. Are you saying you are adverse to going into a liquor store to buy this product, but would be willing to buy it if it were in a different container and sold in another store? If that is the case, have someone else buy it for you, pour it into a lemon extract container and let it go at that. I don't know how you would still be honest with yourself or your children about it but that is up to you.
Everclear is an alcoholic product made for consumption, I don't drink (nothing to do with religion, I just don't like the taste or effect it has on me) I use Everclear to mix with dusts and paint gumpaste. I know it is sold in a liquor store, I buy it there, I don't expect the owners to bring it out to my car for me because I don't agree with the type of business they own. And I doubt they are going to repackage and sell this product in any other type of store.
There is a alternative for you. Sue McMahon is a well known sugar artist in the UK, she often mixes Isopropyl rubbing alcohol which is 70% by volume with airbrush color and dips her gumpaste flowers in it. NOW, she does not use this for anything to be eaten, just as you don't have to use Everclear on anything that is to be eaten. So I don't understand the problem. If you truly can not use this product because it is sold in a liquor store, find something else to use. Simple as that.
$5 a year? Hell I have a bottle that was bought atleast 3 years ago and it is still about half full.
When I have friends over to drink they always think it is funny that I tell them they can not have my everclear. They are allowed to have anything else in the cabinet, but the everclear is for cakes only in my house!
I don't expect anyone to understand my belief but I did figure that, what with all the tolerance we are supposed to have in America towards different lifestyles, that this thread would not be categorized as "ridiculous".
If I must be completely honest, I am a pastors wife and if someone saw me going into a liquor store or even if I asked someone to buy me liquor, it would look really bad. However people buy extracts all the time. Both alcohol...both very different in use and appearance.
Again, I don't expect understanding...but I'm a little taken aback that someone would be mocking of the topic of the thread.
I'll admit that I first thought the whole adversion to the liquor store was a little weird if you weren't adverse to using alcohol, but now that you have explained the situation of why you won't go in a liquor store it makes things a lot more clear and definitely not ridiculous!
I feel for your situation, but I'm honestly curious about why someone would judge you if you were buying alcohol for non consumption purposes. Is it simply the appearances. (I know this is forward, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to!)
But then again people judge me all the time since I'm fat and we are supposed to live in a tolerant society!!
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