I am trying to open my own decorated cakes only bakery, but am very torn because of all the new technology out there. If anyone can go and buy a cricut, and make their own professional looking cakes, is this going to affect the business? Im not trying to be negative, but is this something that yall think will affect businesses??

I think it will enhance the skills and broaden the horizons for professional businesses. Do you think that when edible image printers were introduced, it hurt bakeries? A well-decorated cake still requires the skills of a professional (or very talented hobbiest.) How many people take Wilton classes at the local craft store? How many of them become professional cake decorators? If I were a professional cake decorator, I would use every tool/technology/piece of equipment available to decrease my labor costs and allow more time to use those skills which can't be mass produced (ie. piping, sculpting, designing, creating.)

In a word, no. You have to be a pretty experienced baker/caker to use the Cricut for decorating. There are all sorts of terms and techniques that have to be learned and a background on how to work in fondant/tylose/gumpaste as well as how to make all that work on a cake and all the trickiness involved in just basic cake design to discourage anyone who isn't serious about cakes. Now add in the $400 price tag and you are going to weed out a whole bunch more. As a 20+ year caker and as a 2 year professional I got the cricut cake for three reasons...I'm a scrapbooker and event coordinator as well as a cake artist...so I have 3 reasons to buy the machine. I doubt I would ever have purchased it just for cakes.

So much goes into cake design, structure, support and execution of design that you have to have that experience in order to really be a threat to any serious caker...most people don't have it.

Hope this makes you feel better!

Cat