im new to cake decoration and i understand that you may use a 2HB pencil for templating on fondant icing but im a little confused isn't that toxic or dangerous to use the pencil on cakes?can anyone give me an advise for this it would be much appreciated.thank you.

josie[/b]

what's a 2hb pencil?

no...

because although we say "lead" it is NOT lead.

it's a misnomer.

it's actually graphite mixed with clay
(a form of carbon mixed with a form of dirt)

kids have been eating, chomping, impaling themselves with these pencils since forever -- ask any school teacher (i wonder do most pencils get eaten out of anxiety before a test?) (not to mention eating dirt too -- those kiddy favs': mud pies!)

if it were toxic lots of kids would be dead already!

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rather -- I'd be more worried about:
1) smudging it all over the place
2) ripping the fondant.

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fyi: the softer the pencil, the higher the graphite content. -- softer also means it will leave a darker marker with less pressure -- but will smudge more easily too.

look for artists pencils in the art supply depart. 9B pencils are the softest.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QE2H6A/?tag=cakecentral-20

this one states it's non-toxic....

2 HB >>>

two different GRADING for hardness scales.

2 >> american

HB >> international / artist

so if American you have a #2 pencil -- elsewhere the same pencil is an HB

HB is dead center on the scale of hardness to softness --- neither soft nor hard -- same concept as neutral pH

Wikipedia has a nice article on pencils and their grading.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

what's the difference between a 2b and a 2hb?

2b or not 2b.....

.......................two grades softer

than a 2HB pencil.


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The confusion stems from manufactures putting BOTH grading scales on the one pencil --

the #2 which is also an HB

which why it becomes the 2HB (which would be more properly labeled: #2/HB if it were up to me).

Thanks for clearing that up.



(it's all starting to sound like #2 to me...)

hi everyone!

im going for a holiday back in my country philippines and im planning to make a wedding cake there but im just curious of what type of filling should i use for my cake in realtion for the hot hot weather there.i would like to ask if ganache filling or buttercream would be better.coz if you use butter for your ingerdients of filling it might be ruined the whole cake coz of too much heat.could anyone help me or give me some recipes or advice it would be a great help for me.thank you so much for taking the chance to read my post.

just make sure it says non-toxic on it!