MustangMollie you lucky duck! You have to let me know how it goes and if it was worth it. I am hoping to do one either at the end of the year or early next year. I really want to do the 'Basics Foundation'. Both the 'Basics 101' and the 'Quickstart Accelerated' look great and informative. I guess with the 101 you would go more in-depth and the accelerated has less in-depth info, but covers 101 and 102. Maybe someone has done them and can be more helpful :)

AHappy birthday MustangMollie, I hope you had a great day! How lucky are you going to do a PC class! That will be amazing! All you have to do now is choose which class!

I need some advice from people who live here :) I want to have a crack at making my own MMF - but all the recipes I've seen call for bags of mini marshmallows, which I know in the US are all white. The only minis I've seen here are pink and white (and sometimes yellow). It's even hard work finding big marshmallows in white! What do you all do?

A

I haven't made it but in regards to the marshmallows, there's a place in Sydney where I get all my lollies ect for candy bars which used to stock mini white ones. I haven't been there for a few months but they still should have them. They sell a lot of American candy there so they are a big help! I'm not sure if we are aloud to mention other online sites here so if you want to pm me and I'll give you the site.

Welcome *Newbies*.... and Happy Birthday to those celebrating (albeit i am a bit late)
 

Sorry, forgot who mentioned it - in regards to the marshmallows... do a Google for USA Foods in Melbourne... you *might* find them there.

 

Also - Target (believe it or not) have packets of White Marshmallows - think the name on the packet is Camp Fire or something like that... they are huge, light and not so nasty to eat. and cheap as chips to buy.

 

For whoever mentioned about typing links and sites on here - if you type it like this

USA Foods .com .au with the spaces in between the words - it wont get removed.

 

Raining and grey in Perth today - great day for being inside........... looking out

 

Bluehue

Whoo hoo! Thanks Bluehue :) I will check out Target. 

 

Out of curiosity, do you all make your own fondant or do you buy it ready made? All I've used so far is the Orchard White Icing from the supermarket and I have to say I don't love it. Not that I have used it to make anyone else a cake - just my children's birthday cakes :) 

I've never bothered with MMF  - marshmallows were always harder to get and more expensive than the ingredients for fondant.

 

When I started decorating there was no such thing as commercial fondant so we always made our own.  If you are only doing a cake here and there it is much more exonomical to make your own - it isn't hard.

 

Just make what you need to use - its not like the commercial stuff where it can be placed in a bucket for 6mths - but then it doesn't contain any 'softeners' either so you may very well find it easier to work with.

 

Need a recipe.....   posted this years ago on here

 

http://cakecentral.com/a/homemade-rtr-fondant

Thanks so much AppleGum Pam. I really appreciate it :) I'll try that fondant recipe! I'm still at the learning stage, so am looking forward to playing around with fondants and gumpastes. I have my cake recipes perfected, and have my buttercreams sorted (I'm newly in love with SMBC) so now it's onto fondants and ganaches. And gumpaste flowers etc. I'm loving it! 

I hadn't even thought of calling food wholesalers up here. It would be great to save on postage for these sorts of things! Especially considering it's extremely limited in terms of what we have available retail. I think I'll make my own and try Bakels as well - and see what works best! 

I think you MIS-UNDERSTOOD me Blue  -  I wasn't rubbishing Bakels or commercial fondant

 

I use it myself too - BUT I am going through 4-6 buckets a month

 

What I was saying is that if you choose to make your own - which if you aren't doing loads of cakes, makes sense  - then you CAN'T expect your home-made fondant to perform like commercial  ie... you can't put the leftovers in a bucket and expect to use it again in 6mths

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well :) I was just wondering what kind of turntable everyone is using and where did you bought it? I am thinking of getting the stainless steel one from Cakes Around Town for $50, but I just can't decide.

AI use a cheap turntable ($20) I got from Cake decorating solutions which is perfect for me as i only use it for ganache and fondant. I'm quite loyal to them as they are really wonderful to deal with and are never to busy to answer questions! Prices are pretty decent too. They have a tilting table for 35.00 if your looking for something a little cheaper.

Hi to all the Newbies  , it is quite the little colony in here now . 

 

Cake Days , I got the pme tilting turntable from cakes around town and love it. It make doing side designs and piping to much easier. 

 

On the fondant front , I use bakels too , and buy it by the tub . I got some of their small packs of colors ,red and black ,  I think they are 750g packs at the local  IGA the other day for 6.99 each . they had white in the small packs for that price too. The white works out a little dearer than buying it by the tub but the colours are cheaper than we can get them through the association. 

ASuper IGAs have large bags of white marshmallows, they are giant ones so you only need maybe 3 or 4 of them, I use to use them but dont bother any more, just get pre made, coloured ones from my local decorator shop, they do small quantities and it works out cheaper, I found out that making my own fondant was a gamble, get it wrong and it gets expensive and frustrating, all down to preference, but yes, Super IGA stores do them, and funnily enough they are American. Good luck with making your own.

Chellescakes, I just wanted to comment that the cake in your avatar pic is GORGEOUS!!!!!

Is Cakes Around Town a local or Internet shop? As far as local shops (for Adelaide) I've only found Creative Cooks. Are there any other options?

ALooks like another grey and wet day in Perth, unfortunately not doing any baking but wallpaper stripping which by the way I think was originally stuck to the wall with superglue! Have a quick question, large cup cakes or standard size, does anyone have a preference?

Don't feel isolated Blue..... NSW IGA's don't stock Bakels either!   and $6.99???  for the coloured?   even wholesale price for me is dearer than that !

http://www.completecake.com.au/    is in SA    and Cakes Around Town have an online shop too

ACakes Around Town I think are based in Q'land, I shop on line with them and I must praise them, if you are on facebook look them up and "like" then you get to find out any special deals, another one is Something For The Cake. If you Google cake decorating retailers in your area, you might be surprised how many there are, I live in Perth and was surprised how many there were nearby. Shopping on line is great and so easy, just set up an account with them and browse through all their goodies!

I knew you guys would have all the answers! I'm going to go and have a look at my local IGA stores now, not sure where they are or if they have a super IGA up here, but it's worth a shot from the sound of it!! 

 

Cakes Around Town are fabulous. They process and post orders sooo quickly, and it's worth stalking their online shop because they always have heaps on special. I had an order from them arrive this morning, one of those things was a non stick rolling pin - 23cm - which I got for about $5.

Nadiaa, I love Cakes Around Town as well, I couldn't believe how fast my order arrived. I'm on the site right now, having another look. I may be a little addicted!

I'm banning myself from looking. Lol! I need to spend money on ingredients to try out the things I've just bought recently. 

Better go this isn't getting my show entry done.