Thanks for the links, Chellescakes.
Are any of you making Father's Day cakes for the weekend? I'm going to, but not sure what I'm doing yet.
CakeDays, chocolate guiness cupcakes sound delicious! Any chance you'll share the recipe?
Do you gals have sources here for shortening and cornstarch or do you you substitute? If you substitute, what do you use?
Hi Brooke :) I'm new here too.
Hi Brooke :)
Welcome, I am also a new member. So glad I found this sight, there is so much information and plenty of helpful members.
MustangMollie, The Choc Guinness recipe is from Epicurious, it has a lot of rave reviews. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Stout-Cake-107105
For shortening I got my partner to bring over a 6lb tub of Crisco :P If I ever run out I will probably get it from USA Foods. I am pretty sure that cornstarch is cornflour over here and you can get it from the supermarket. When we were in L.A I sent my partner to the shops for cornflour and instead of getting what Americans call cornstarch he came back with flour made from corn lol.
Hi Brooke, I'm new too - there's a few of us!
Yep, cornstarch is cornflour. So that's easy to find, lol! I'm in the process of developing my recipes so am trying to avoid recipes that need shortening. For example, my buttercream has butter in it - not shortening. I don't think we have a direct substitution for Crisco here, so I'm in the mind set that when I do one day open my business and need to buy in bulk, I'm not going to be using an ingredient I can't source easily in Australia (without it being hugely expensive). Who knows, I might find I need it yet.
AWow I missed a bit haha WELCOME all newbies :) can't wait to get back into cake decorating and the forum.
Original message sent by cazza1
Freckles I was just thinking about you and wondering if all went well with the birth of your baby. I hope all is well and that you are just not on here lately because you are plum tuckered out. Hope you see this and let us know how you are.
If I get around to it I will be trying a passionfruit white choc cake with a blue/ivory vertical stripe base and plain ivory top with a cross and I wanted baby shoes too but I have a busy day tomorrow as it is so baking the cake now and see how I go. A bit sleep deprived here haha
Wow that is long sorry you only probably wanted a yes we are great. I had a boy post lol oops. Xx
AThanks, just checked out carolines and love the silicone moulds, I just might have another shopping spree!!
Original message sent by Chellescakes
Thank you Mollie, I was thinking of changing it the other day but I might leave it a bit longer now.
Gails, Cakes around town are Brisbane based they are at Darra. In Adelaide you have Caroline's , I get stuff from there all the time http://www.carolines.com.au/ , I have a friend that has family in Adelaide so we get stuff brought back in suitcases all the time.
Speaking of Adelaide anyone go to the national ?
Hi Brooke, I'm new too - there's a few of us!
Yep, cornstarch is cornflour. So that's easy to find, lol! I'm in the process of developing my recipes so am trying to avoid recipes that need shortening. For example, my buttercream has butter in it - not shortening. I don't think we have a direct substitution for Crisco here, so I'm in the mind set that when I do one day open my business and need to buy in bulk, I'm not going to be using an ingredient I can't source easily in Australia (without it being hugely expensive). Who knows, I might find I need it yet.
Thanks for the link to the recipe!
I went into Caroline's today and they have two types of "shortening." The White vegetable fat can be used like crisco to keep fondant from drying out and things like that, but not used IN recipes (they sell another type of shortening for that, but they were out of it today). I have a lot of family in the U.S. and I also have a forwarding mail service to me here in Australia so it shouldn't be a big drama to mail order some Crisco, though I'm not sure how much shipping will be.
When I saw cornflour in the shops I thought it was flour made from corn, I didn't know it was the same thing as cornstarch! The nice guy at Caroline's answered a bunch of questions for me today :)
AHi Aussie Bakers, I'm from Adelaide. Originally from Coober Pedy, where I first signed up on this website about 7 years ago. I have benefited so much from this site. I have spent hours and hours researching and gaining tips. I owe a lot to this site for my success in cake decorating. It's great to see Aussies on here. I noticed a lot of talk about refrigerating fondant covered cakes. I have been refrigerating all my cakes from day one, and have never experienced any problems. I have noticed since moving to Adelaide that there is more moisture in the air compared Coober Pedy. Most of my cakes have chocolate mousse so I find that I don't have an option. I think it really depends on the climate that you live in too. Just wanted to share that. Lol
ADoes anyone use the sps system there always going on about? Was thinking about buying it and getting it shipped but not 100% sure if its worth it or not? I've got a wedding cake coming up and I find with my tiered cakes the fondant always seems o get stuck to the bottom of the board
No way would I be buying SPS system and having it shipped to Australia. I don't know of anybody that uses it here and IMO it's NOT the secret to success.
I use wooden dowels or the larger bubble tea straws - important to make sure your cakes are level, that the dowels are inserted straight, that they are the same length, that they are cut a fraction higher than the fondant level... I don't mean it sits above the fondant though.
With regard to the fondant sticking - are you giving your covered cakes time to 'set up' before you stack them? or are you covering and stacking in one go?
What are you using to coat your cake prior to the fondant being applied?
What are you using to 'stick' the tiers together with?
Happy to help you sort this out - you don't need to buy SPS
AHere is my second attempt at cake decorating. It has some issues, but overall I don't think it's too bad for my 2nd cake :)
If I had to do it again I would have measured out the lines around the circumference of the cake instead of eyeballing it. I think I would like the look of skinnier lines better so I would reduce the width by at least half. I have some tears in the fondant so I'll need to take the time to roll out a more uniform circular shape next time and also I think reducing the amount of buttercream would help as well. [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3091274/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
Looks awesome MustangMollie, what a great "Super Dad' cake! What flavour cake is it? Maybe ganache would be better than the butter cream.
Well I made the Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes and they are so good. Yummy flavour, moist and just an overall great recipe. The Guinness was only very slight, but just enough. The caramel frosting I used was a little on the soft side, so next time I'm going to try one that is a little more stable. I also tried to make chocolate vodka swirls, but it didn't work out and instead they came out more like flowers.
Forgot to add that 'Dad' loved them :D
AThat's a gorgeous cupcake!!! What is a chocolate odka swirl? It sounds interesting! I've added your Guinness cupcakes to my "gotta try" list.
I just did a plane vanilla cake. I've never done ganache. Is it yummy? Is it easy to use?
We had a huge family get together today and even with the flaws, my sister in law thought that I bought the cake from a specialty cake shop. She was floored when I told her that my 9 year old and I made it!
A vodka swirl is where you put a glass of vodka in the freezer and after a while you pipe chocolate into it and it comes out like long swirly sticks. Mine on the other hand didn't sink and instead sat on top of the water.
Ganache is chocolate and cream, I think it so much yummier than butter cream. It gets really hard in the fridge and you can get very sharp edges for your fondant.
It is great when people are wowed by what you made! You had a really good idea :)
AWow, thanks for the info. I'll have to try ganache and vodka swirls. I think your vodka "flowers" are much prettier than straight lines would've been!
I've never heard of vodka chocolate swirls! I'll be giving them a go, I love trying something new :)
MustangMollie - your cake is terrific!! I love the colours and I think you did a fantastic job.
I did no Father's Day cake - poor hubby, lol! I was sick with the flu all weekend and lost my voice! So no baking for me. I might venture into the kitchen today though, I'll see how I feel.
No way would I be buying SPS system and having it shipped to Australia. I don't know of anybody that uses it here and IMO it's NOT the secret to success.
I use wooden dowels or the larger bubble tea straws - important to make sure your cakes are level, that the dowels are inserted straight, that they are the same length, that they are cut a fraction higher than the fondant level... I don't mean it sits above the fondant though.
With regard to the fondant sticking - are you giving your covered cakes time to 'set up' before you stack them? or are you covering and stacking in one go?
What are you using to coat your cake prior to the fondant being applied?
What are you using to 'stick' the tiers together with?
Happy to help you sort this out - you don't need to buy SPS
Thanks I didn't know if any Aussie use it, they are always talking about it on here
I use plastic dowels, someone suggested that i place a small amount of royal icing on the top of them then place the board, i dont use a centre dowel nor do i want to either the whole thought of spearing one through a 3 tiered quilted cake makes me very nervous. I yeh generally cover then stack, so rest it for a few hours first?
i was going to assemble it on site, but it has pearls around it so i think im going to have to take it together, prob sit it on the floor or maybe my lap? not sure. ??? its going to be 8'10'12 so its not hugge but its not small either. mostly ive only done 2 tiers travelled on my lap
No way would I be buying SPS system and having it shipped to Australia. I don't know of anybody that uses it here and IMO it's NOT the secret to success.
I use wooden dowels or the larger bubble tea straws - important to make sure your cakes are level, that the dowels are inserted straight, that they are the same length, that they are cut a fraction higher than the fondant level... I don't mean it sits above the fondant though.
With regard to the fondant sticking - are you giving your covered cakes time to 'set up' before you stack them? or are you covering and stacking in one go?
What are you using to coat your cake prior to the fondant being applied?
What are you using to 'stick' the tiers together with?
Happy to help you sort this out - you don't need to buy SPS
Thanks I didn't know if any Aussie use it, they are always talking about it on here
I use plastic dowels, someone suggested that i place a small amount of royal icing on the top of them then place the board, i dont use a centre dowel nor do i want to either the whole thought of spearing one through a 3 tiered quilted cake makes me very nervous. I yeh generally cover then stack, so rest it for a few hours first?
i was going to assemble it on site, but it has pearls around it so i think im going to have to take it together, prob sit it on the floor or maybe my lap? not sure. ??? its going to be 8'10'12 so its not hugge but its not small either. mostly ive only done 2 tiers travelled on my lap
Just a word of caution - IF you are going to transport this cake assembled you will need to have more than a small amount of royal icing on top of your dowels to SECURE the tier above. THAT system is OK if you are going to assemble on site - where the cake is placed in-situ and not moved.
An assembled cake needs to be secured! The easiest way I have found is to use fondant 'goop' which is essentially just a blob of fondant that has been heated in the microwave until it is lava-like. Be careful 25secs is normally enough - you don't want it to burn. Stick some into the centre on to pof your fondant - line up your 2nd tier and pop into place - you will need to work quickly - it sets like concrete and you will not have too much time to make any adjustments.
I don't know any Australian's that spear a central dowel down through cakes AND board.
If you are going to use a central dowel - I would go the pre-drilled boards, and thread the cakes OVER the central dowel that had been hot-glued into a base/presentation board.
Thanks Nadiaa :)
I hope you're feeling better!
Today I went on a cake supply shopping spree with my sister. We tend to go a little crazy together. We ended up with some great bargains from Spotlight. They had 25% off Fat Diddio pans, but only had square and I'm waiting for the Magic Line ones I ordered. I got an icing mat that was cheaper than the one at the supply store and the Wilton 1M for four dollars. I ended up with bags of bits and pieces, but still didn't get any glycerin. Still a great day of shopping!
A
Original message sent by ApplegumPam
Just a word of caution - IF you are going to transport this cake assembled you will need to have more than a small amount of royal icing on top of your dowels to SECURE the tier above. THAT system is OK if you are going to assemble on site - where the cake is placed in-situ and not moved.
An assembled cake needs to be secured! The easiest way I have found is to use fondant 'goop' which is essentially just a blob of fondant that has been heated in the microwave until it is lava-like. Be careful 25secs is normally enough - you don't want it to burn. Stick some into the centre on to pof your fondant - line up your 2nd tier and pop into place - you will need to work quickly - it sets like concrete and you will not have too much time to make any adjustments.
I don't know any Australian's that spear a central dowel down through cakes AND board.
If you are going to use a central dowel - I would go the pre-drilled boards, and thread the cakes OVER the central dowel that had been hot-glued into a base/presentation board.
So with the fondant lava blob thing you put that the middle of your cake? Then then next board and cake on top? But then when comin to cut up and serve wouldn't that still get stuck and make an awful mess of the cake?
Just a word of caution - IF you are going to transport this cake assembled you will need to have more than a small amount of royal icing on top of your dowels to SECURE the tier above. THAT system is OK if you are going to assemble on site - where the cake is placed in-situ and not moved.
An assembled cake needs to be secured! The easiest way I have found is to use fondant 'goop' which is essentially just a blob of fondant that has been heated in the microwave until it is lava-like. Be careful 25secs is normally enough - you don't want it to burn. Stick some into the centre on to pof your fondant - line up your 2nd tier and pop into place - you will need to work quickly - it sets like concrete and you will not have too much time to make any adjustments.
I don't know any Australian's that spear a central dowel down through cakes AND board.
If you are going to use a central dowel - I would go the pre-drilled boards, and thread the cakes OVER the central dowel that had been hot-glued into a base/presentation board.
So with the fondant lava blob thing you put that the middle of your cake? Then then next board and cake on top? But then when comin to cut up and serve wouldn't that still get stuck and make an awful mess of the cake?
It doesn't STAY as a blob.... or your cake would be suspended over it and rock and roll everywhere.
The weight of the cake above spreads it out so it ends up being a thin layer. I can only speak for my cakes and what happens with them, because I don't know everything you do with yours. But when it comes time to cut mine - I can insert a thin bladed knife between the tiers, give a slight twist and it is enough to break the 'seal' - the top tier is removed for cutting and the fondant on the base tier is NOT an awful mess.
You don't HAVE to do it this way...... BUT you must work out -
HOW...... is that top tier going to stay where you want it - you don't seriously think that 2 dots of royal icing on top of the straws will be enough to hold it??
ACakenewbelp, maybe this will help.
http://www.notquitenigella.com/2010/11/04/how-to-make-a-two-tier-wedding-cake-with-faye-cahill/
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