Christmas Came Early!!

This past weekend, I came into possession of something that I have been coveting from the moment I laid my eyes on it.

It is magnificent. I can't think of a word for it other than magnificent.

And its all thanks to one of my besties who knows how crazy I am and feeds my addiction :)

In fact, she was just as excited as I was was to watch me open it! If anyone is wondering how I have the motivation and determination to keep up with school AND fulfill my baking dreams, you should know by now that I'm obviously not doing it alone. I would be doing nothing without my friends and family who support me and keep me going when I feel like I have absolutely no energy left.

Okay put the tissue box away...no more sentimentally stuff.

My friend, T managed to hook me up with this beautiful beast sent down from the cake heavens:

I'm gonna give you a moment to appreciate the sheer awesomeness of everything that comes in this box.

I know most people who read my blog probably don't know what this is or the significance of it.

But to those who are staring at the computer with a glow across your face....trust me...it is every bit as good as the picture.... and better.

I will be doing a comprehensive post on the Ultimate Decorating Set soon including a comparison of the price of the set to buying each item individually. I can't promise that it will come soon but it will happen one day.

The retail value of the set is $470 but if you thought for even a second that I would fork that over, then we need to go on a few more dates because you don't know how cheap I am. Rest assured....I got this baby for a HUGE steal.

I'm getting flustered all over again... I think I need a paper bag.

Needless to say, I remain indebted for life to my friend T for hooking me up.

The next few weeks will be a bit packed as I get ready for finals and finish up assignments and have multiple crises over grad school applications where I drown my sorrows in junk food and try to convince myself that my life won't be over if it doesn't work out. I will try to squeeze in as much baking as I can.

Happy Baking!

PS: I'm wondering if I should cancel Multicultural Monday altogether. I'm always missing it and I never end up trying the recipes anyway. Thoughts?

Review: Wilton Global Fondant and Gum Paste Mold

Since I have a bit of time (a reallllyyyy tinnnnnyyyyy bit) between cakes and school work I thought I would do a quick product review on the impression mold I used for the bharathanatyam (dance) cake.

The Global mold is one of 3 or 4 I believe. It is made of silicone and comes with a bunch of designs on one sheet all relating to a certain theme. I received it as a birthday gift (ironically from the same friend that I used the mold to make a cake for) and was super excited to use it. I think its the most 'ethnic' looking one of the molds.

The instructions to use it were fairly simple. Wash the mold carefully before the first use. Obviously...this goes for any kind of tool you buy...if you even think about skipping this step, just picture a giant warehouse with rats running around on top of your products boxes...ya that's right...get scrubbing.

To use, you basically push in the fondant on top of the design you want and roll a rolling pin over it to make sure you fill every crevice. Make sure you sprinkled cornstarch onto the mold beforehand so that the fondant doesn't stick. Then just lift the fondant or gum paste out and TADAAAA.

Pshhh, who am I kidding...we all know things don't work that way in real life...

The biggest problem I had was that I had to make sure the impression wasn't overfilled or else I would have to trim the excess fondant off by hand which resulted in extra work...and we all know how much I hate extra work.

Eventually I got the hang of it and was able to fill each impression with just the right amount of fondant so that there was no excess.

I also found that I didn't need to use cornstarch! My fondant didn't stick to the silicone at all. I don't know if this was because my fondant was just the right amount of stickiness OR because the heavens were smiling down at me because I'm special....personally I think its the latter.

What I like MOST about this mold is that once you pop the shape out, you can manipulate it to form other shapes. I used the 4 petal flower impression and then cut them in half to make my own border. Winning!

What I didn't like was that the borders that came with the mold didn't look good when I made them. They were hard to fill without showing breaks or folds. When I did manage to fill it properly, there was always excess fondant that I had to then trim off. I also think it would be a hassle if you have a larger cake. The borders are not that long. I'm not too sure because I didn't use the border design and I decorated an 8 inch cake but I would imagine that you have to do a few borders and join them together resulting in more divides in your border. Again, not a big deal but since I'm a perfectionist and get crazy twitchy eyes when things I make have tiny flaws, I consider it a minus.

I think the mold would be better if they changed out the border designs and added some other impression designs and also if there was some way to fill the design and cut away excess fondant before popping the fondant out. Not sure how they would do that and make it convenient but I'll let the creative design engineers over at Wilton work on that one. The cavities were also quite deep and I think I would like it better if they were a bit thinner so that the work doesn't stick out of the cake oddly.

Regardless, I would give this product 7 out of 10. I think the mold is a great tool to give your cakes that extra flair if you are pressed for time. The intricate designs are great and you have an option among a few patterns to choose from. The product is very durable and seems like it will last a long time. I'm not sure about the price since I received it as a gift. But again, if you get it, make sure to check at Michael's first because they have those blessed coupons that make it easier on our wallets.

Next time for product reviews I think I should take some pictures of me actually using the product. All this text on the page is just boring...except for those few people who read my blog just for the writing...anybody? Ya didn't think so.

Happy Baking!

Review: Wilton Ultimate Cake Leveler

My birthday has come and gone and my friends knew exactly what to get me as gifts; the entire Michael's baking aisle.

Okay I'm exaggerating....a little.

The first one in the line up for review is the Wilton Ultimate Cake Leveler. My roommate got this for me after watching me struggle to level an 8 inch round cake to be perfectly even and smooth.

Ain't she a beauty? Or maybe its a he...I haven't checked

It is a fold up cake leveler with a thin but sharp serrated stainless steel blade...try saying that 5 times fast! The height is adjustable to 8 height positions and it has a sliding lock handle. It folds into a snap and comes with a sleeve for the folded blade.

This product is a definite time and mess saver. There are fewer crumbs when levelling your cake just as the box says. When I tried to do this with a serrated knife, I could never get it at that perfectly even height and always ended up taking off more cake than I wanted. With this leveler, it was just click click click and saw away.

The instructions that came in the box were....satisfactory I guess. But then again, I did kind of lift the leveler out of the box and say "I don't need instructions, I'm a born natural!"

That lasted about 5 minutes and then I fished the instructions out of the box and read them.

What I like most about the leveler is that you place the legs on top of the table and saw away so that you are not depending on your eyeballing skills to get an even cut...and we all know my eyeball has no skills whatsoever.

It worked great on round cakes as well as odd shaped cakes.

What I didn't like so much?...well nothing really. I guess it could come in a different variety of colours since they only have white and red right now...but in the big scheme of things, I don't think it really matters.

Wilton also has a less expensive leveller called the...Cake Leveler. It is smaller (for a 10 in. wide 2 in. high cake) and is made of metal. The blade is a wire. I imagine that it would work just as well depending on your purposes.

If your planing on investing in the Ultimate Cake Leveler, it can be found at Michael's Craft Store and they ALWAYS have coupons for 20-40% off. Check the weekly ad on their website. I think this is the cheapest you can get the leveller for ifs you have coupons. If anyone knows better, let me know!

Happy Baking!

Baking Tools and The Start of a New Series

One of the most exciting parts of cake decorating and baking for me is the variety of tools and the various functions they serve. For those of you who wonder how many possible tools would you need to bake a cake....I have one thing to say to you....

Okay so I can't think of a witty response because you honestly don't need a whole lot. It really depends on your goal. If you want to make a pretty cake but aren't too concerned with things like how even the cake is or how spot on certain icing colours are or how realistic the icing/fondant flowers look, then you really don't need many tools.

When I first started baking (before I even considered it a hobby) I would make my own piping bags out of  ziploc bags and didn't have fancy boards or anything. They weren't as easy to use but worked just as well.

And then I laid eyes on my first piping bag. I'm not going to describe the moment in detail but I'll leave you with this: the clouds parted and harp music was heard. Nuff said

But there is huge problem stopping me from rushing out and buying every cake decorating tool I can get my hands on. I refer to this problem as "I ain't got no money" My wonderful student budget doesn't allow for frivolities like baking supplies...butter....sugar....running water...you get the idea.

But obviously this is a minor technicality in the grand scheme of things which is why I clenched my fist, squinted my eyes, and threw a tantrum.

When that failed much to my surprise, I sat on my computer and searched through Amazon, eBay, cake supplies warehouses, and Michael's Craft Store. I compared prices, searched for coupons, and cringed at shipping rates. Surprisingly, (or maybe not so much) there are many more business that cater to bakers and cake decorators in the good ol' US of A. Canadians do have some good resources, especially in the Greater Toronto Area, but at a higher price and with less variety.

Over the past few months, I have visited many stores and websites as well as investing in some products and figuring out what works and what doesn't. I thought it would be a good idea to do a few posts on these products and stores and talk about the greats and not so greats.

Hopefully it will help those of you who, like me, have an "I ain't got no money" problem narrow down what you should invest in and what you could probably live without.

And just because its Friday, (or is it Monday? What comes after Thursday? Where is Rebecca Black when you need her?!) find some awesome Michael's coupons here and here. Don't forget to use them before they expire!

Have a yummy weekend!