I thought it would be fun for us to get on here and post our best tips and tricks. I would love to hear all of em'! 
if it's a secret, people won't post them.
LOL!!!!! Ain't that the truth! 
Deanna
ChristianCakeBaker -- I love threads like the one you started. 
Perhaps if you asked for best tips in certain categories...like cupcakes (there is a very long thread on that going on), or BC piping, BC smoothing, fondant work, time saving tips, etc. it might help get more replies in those categories. You can also do a search for those too.
JanH recently posted a very helpful thread on all types of roses, for example.
Just a thought! I'd be happy to share (and learn), but am not sure what interests you most.
Mine is that I really don't know what I'm doing.
Michele
Mine is that I really don't know what I'm doing.
Michele
/
lol Sugarflowers! Is that how you got on Foodnetwork?
My best kept secret is my honey cookie recipe; and it will stay that way!!!!!!
My other secret is that almost every sculpted cake needs to be reviewed by my DH before it is covered to make sure that the proportions are right. After 7 year, I still don't trust myself.
My secrets (most learned here, of course):
- Using creamer in place of most of the water in cake recipes.
- Using flavored yogurt instead of sourcream to enhance flavor.
- Using white chocolate pudding mix in white cakes (vanilla imparts a yellow hue).
- Bake even strips
- You don't need to grease and flour--Pam works just fine.
- LoRann butter flavor in MMF is the BOMB! (tastes like BC)
- Glue: meringue powder, PS, and a tad water.
There's more, but I can't think of them at the moment so I'll post them when I remember!
I'm with MacsMom...
-I add a box of pudding in with most of my recipes
-I use coffee creamer to replace milk/cream in some of my recipes
-Yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk are also good additions to cake batter
-I also use the coffee creamer in certain frostings and fillings
I would've never thought to use the coffee creamer had it not been for my visits to cc!
-Yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk are also good additions to cake batter
Or mayo! I ran out of sour cream and yogurt once so substituted mayo. Of course, there are those fabulous chocolate mayo cakes that gave me the idea.
Also, I have used coffee creamers as a substitute in frostings and cakes. The only one I really like is the peppermint mocha though.
I to have to agree that this web site is just amazing!! I think frosting is everything, the flavor, I found Sugarshack's icing on here and I love it!! I also have come across Bettercreme thanks to Mel I use bettercreme on my cupcakes, it tastes like whipped creme but can hold up much better. I have also learned that the White Almond Sour Cream (not sure who to give credit to on this one?) But that is the bomb!! I LOVE it!! All variations to, chocolate and yellow. I love this site because there really is no "secret" I love it that we all share It truly is what makes this site such a success.
I also wanted to say that CC is my best kept secret! And I'm already learning more from this post again But from my own practice....when it comes to baking: Cake Mix Doctor recipes, bake cakes until their barely done, press down slightly with a tea towel when fresh out of the oven, and cover or ice when they're baaarely cooled. My customers are amazed that my cakes are always so moist, so that's my simple little secret Looking forward to all the good stuff that will come out of this thread!
Oh yes, I forgot to mention insulated baking strips, which have almost completely eliminated my need to ever level a cake. And I never grease and flour, just a quick spray with Baker's Joy, or even plain Pam, with a parchment bottom is all I need to get perfect release of my cakes.
CC is another wonderful secret - such wonderful talent on this site.
Most important for me is to always bake completely from scratch - no mixes or convenience products (but I don't hold it against anyone who does).
I am a Wilton Instructor and share everything I have learned here....
frosting plug
glaze cake with clear jelly instead of crumb coat
use pam and sugar instead of grease and flour pans
Toba Garetts icing technique of using a 2D tip to frost cake
hot dry spatula to smooth icing
Viva paper towels to finish smoothing frosting
White Almond Sour cream cake recipe (works with other flavors as well)
I'm sure there's tons more and I guess they are not really secrets since they are widely discussed here, but to my students it helps them overcome a lot of obstacles newbies have.
It's very interesting how some experienced decorators will share all while others are very secretive. I guess I can see both sides of why they feel they way they do, but I am eternally grateful to the decorators who share more than just their pictures here.
I'm not very good at keeping my own secrets :blush: hehe. If I find out something good, I have to tell the world! CC is my best "secret" though. I don't tell the customers about it...usually 
ok, so my scone recipe. I don't tell anyone my scone recipe but that's not a cake thing. My chocolate cake recipe is my own also
CC is one of my best kept secrets! When I get a cake to do, I totally use this site to research EVERYTHING! I get SO inspired on here!
My main secret, keep the music going while you bake and decorate. It's harder to get frusterated when completely jamming out to your favorite tunes!
Ok so I sell cookies and I usually use the Townhouse recipe with a little changes. People loooove them. I usually use good ingredients and add extra stuff to the batter. I feel bad sometimes because I'm making money on something people can do themselves. Cake mix is also my secret. I loooove the WASC recipe and people always compliment me on my homemade cakes! OOOPS. Also CC is my best kept secret. I usually come on here inspiration for when I have to decorate. (Please dont judge me) I dont want to loose my membership.(LOL)
My secret is I never use anything other than Ghirardelli chocolate bars for my white chocolate and dark chocolate cakes... so I try to buy them when they are on sale. Actually, I found some at a "Bent and Dent" store yesterday for 60 cents a piece (I pay $2.35/bar at Kroger)... That was a good secret.
Also, another secret is that I NEVER NEVER NEVER use aspartame (Equal) or SPLENDA (both are very, very, very dangerous) in any of my foods and will not allow them to be served wherever there is food that I have prepared. My contract even states that these two items will not be served. If someone is diabetic, I tell them they should not eat my cakes, etc. Now, do not get all over me about this... I refuse to knowingly poison someone with killers, as I have too many who are in my family who have been hurt by this. The two above substitutes are poisonous, and if they still insist, I will provide a substitute for them. . Sweet 'n Low is available, as it is not as toxic, but they have to initial on the contract that they are fully responsible and leave no liability on me whatsoever if I serve the Sweet 'N Low.
A third "known secret" is that I do not buy anything from WalMart, due to their moral values. I will travel ten miles down the road to purchase from a local business person at a higher cost because I am true to my word. They are not cheaper overall and their food quality is suspect, in my opinion.
A fourth secret is that I use family recipes handed down from generation to generation. My ex-mother-in-law taught me how to make certain types of cakes (she is from the Austria area) and I use them as a basis for the cakes I make. There were no recipes, but techniques.
A fifth secret is that I use homemade vanilla that I have made myself out of bourbon and vanilla beans.
A sixth secret is I use my large, long cake boxes with shelf liner (the spongy type) to carry the cake in the car more than once if they are not stained with butter cream, etc. I keep one in the trunk at all times to set the cake boxes into when I am delivering a cake... it acts as a "holder" and keeps the cake boxes from sliding around when I turn a corner.
A seventh secret is that I carve my cakes into whatever size and shape the client wants, instead of owning forty billion different cake pans.
I notice that most of you put coffee creamer in your batter. I've read that on here...However, when I went to my local grocery store, the only flavors they carry are hazelnut, regular, and irish cream.
Where else can I get a variety of creamer flavors??
A third "known secret" is that I do not buy anything from WalMart, due to their moral values. I will travel ten miles down the road to purchase from a local business person at a higher cost because I am true to my word. They are not cheaper overall and their food quality is suspect, in my opinion.
Could you elaborate please. Around here, they are the cheapest on almost everything. I buy everything there except fot their meat. I just haven't liked the way it looks.
But I would like to know what is wrong with their values, since I give them almost every dime I have!
Please educate me!
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