I'm seeing more and more cakes done with RKT for features, and on some cakes I've seen done on TV, a lot more RKT than I would be comfortable offering to a customer as a cake.
I think the finished surfaces of products made with RKT are rough and uninspiring, and that more cake artists are using them as shortcuts, rather than as a necessity (meaning, it would be darn near impossible to make the same feature from cake or mold it from chocolate or pastillage/gumpaste). If I order a cake, I want cake, not a lot of RKT that I never ordered.
I would like to know your opinions as to what trends you've seen, whether you use them, and to what extent.
Theresa
I've never used them on my cakes, but I have friends that use RKT for very specific decor. Specific.. As in.. Only for small portions of a cake that would otherwise be unstable or too heavy if a different medium was used. The last I saw was a HUGE castle cake.. The turrets were the only things made out of RKT, which actually helped with the cobblestone-esque design. The little girls at the birthday party loved it.. They kept saying it was like an extra treat
I think the finished surfaces of products made with RKT are rough and uninspiring
Not necessarily....
I've found that spreading melted chocolate on it, then smoothing with a hot spatula, and covering with a slightly thicker piece of fondant, works wonders...
You can see the back of the stove in the first link, and the wipes & baby powder in the 2nd:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1894699
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1791124
I don't have customers, so I don't worry about it.
If I was the customer though, I would be upset if it wasn't disclosed to me before-hand.
RKT can be smoothed by first firmly pressing the RKT together, than getting a pairing knife and smoothing, or a lemon zester. As far as when to use them I only think that it should be used when cake can not hold up, IMPOSSIBLE to hold up. I used them to sculpt a small thomas the train, a small prego belly, just because they were so small they would have been pointless to bake a cake just for those tiny elements that were on it. I did use RKT on the top dome of my son's birthday cake for 2 reasons. 1. we didnt have enough people coming to eat all the cake, even if every single person there took some home, and 2. RKT just was much easier than carving cake, I pressed it into a bowl and vwah la! a dome was made with no cake carving! I do not like seeing bakers making more RKT than cake, or a large amount of their design to be RKT. However, it it sometimes a good idea to use it!
I use rice krispie treats only when the alternative would be structurally unsound, too heavy, or take weeks to dry. There are plenty of things I can make out of gumpaste but it someone only asks you for a cake 3 days in advance that just does not give gumpaste enough time to dry. I always explain to the person if I am going to use RKT. Most children get excited about the RKT and end up eating that not the cake. Since I don't even like cake I would be the one eating the RKT too!
i used RKT on a deer mount cake i did...take a look at it, it is in my photos...where the base of the neck is is two 10" round cakes and then from there up i used RKT because the head and neck almost lay's parrellel with the table and cake would not have held up...
I've never used them on my cakes, but I have friends that use RKT for very specific decor. Specific.. As in.. Only for small portions of a cake that would otherwise be unstable or too heavy if a different medium was used. The last I saw was a HUGE castle cake.. The turrets were the only things made out of RKT, which actually helped with the cobblestone-esque design. The little girls at the birthday party loved it.. They kept saying it was like an extra treat
I used RKT as the top of my circus tent (in my pics) cake. My client actually loved it. I told them ahead of time, but she didn't tell her daughter. Her daughter loved it as an extra treat as well.
I use a crusting buttercream and smoothed it so it wasn't "bumpy" at all.
I have used RKT on some of my cakes. While I agree that the amount should not be excessive in comparison to the cake itself, I feel that it can be better than gum paste sometimes because it's at least another edible feature. Like so many others have said, some people really enjoy the special treat.
I use RKT for models-like tractors or cars-that are used as cake toppers. They're lightweight and they stay together well.
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