sherribabee

FYI, their software is not Mac compatible, but I haven't found that I even need it.

I just got back from Grand Central (again!) and happend to see some of the cookie icing demo. I could hardly see anything because there were about 10 people shoving themselves right up against the counter, so there really wasn't much chance for anyone else to see anything. Oh well. It was considerably more crowded today than it ws yesterday and I had a hard time getting close enough to any of the cakes to take pictures. I did get a galss of champagne, though. The little cake sample they were handing out weren't very tasty.

My goodness, chefette! It seems we were both posting photos at the same time. Well, at least we know we got them all!

OK, here are the images. I tried to capture the designer's name in most of the photos, but in some cases, you can't really read it or it's not visible. I will do my best to identify each cake tomorrow and post the info under each photo.

I just got back from the cakewalk. WOW! I snapped a pic of each cake which I will upload as soon as I can. That's a LOT of pics, people. I didn't have enough time to note who did each cake, but I will probably go back tomorrow during lunch and take better notes to identify each cake.

RATS! I couldn't make my escape fromt eh office in time to see Steve's demo. I'll be going tomorrow during lunch for sure and will take lots and lots of photos.

I'm going to try to make it there for Steve and Colleen's demonstration this afternoon. If I do, I'll take as many photos as I can. I hope my boss doesn't mind me taking a REALLY late lunch today.

I can't figure out how it's humanly possible to pipe flowers like that directly onto the cake. My wrists hurt just thinking about it. I think they have a bunch of nimble, double-jointed, little elves decorating in the middle of the night. EDIT: I think this requires an investigative field trip on my part to see if I can sneak some peaks into their kitchen. I've never been to the Cupcake Cafe before.

Ooooo, I'll most definitely be there. And taking LOTS and LOTS of photos! Thanks for the info., Steve. Is there a schedule of the various demos somewhere?

Windex too! Di ← I just took a long, hot shower and that managed to wash away all the coloring. I needed to de-stress. It was that or throw the dang cake out the window. And the only reason I DIDN'T throw it out the window is that I didn't want to attract rats.

Gah! Never again! I hate black fondant! I got a few little smudges of corn starch on the top, which I cannot, for the life of me, brush out or smooth off. I hate you, black fondant! You better sleep with one eye open!

Thanks everyone. I FINALLY got it black enough to pass. I added nearly half of a 1 oz. jar of NY Cake & Baking Brand "Super Black." My hands have a gray tinge to them now, I can't wash it all off. I haven't tasted it yet, and I really don't want to. Blech! I'll warn my friend that she should have her guests peel off the fondant and enjoy the buttercream underneath. Next time, I'll try using chocolate.

Anyone know the best way to produce black fondant? I'm making an x-box cake for tomorrow evening and started to color my fondant with black coloring paste last night but I can't seem to get it any darker than a deep plum/gray color. Grrrr. Should I just keep working in the coloring in hopes that it will eventually turn black? Any other suggestions? Maybe I could paint it with black petal dust or something? Thanks!

New to the biz, yes...very. Pro? Not quite yet. Maybe, to some extent, I am an exception, but when I first tried my hand at fondant (before I had any sort of training) I remember thinking to myself, "so what's the big deal?" And even later in my pasty class when we first worked with fondant, even the folks with questionable kitchen skills all manged to cover their cakes without cracks or wrinkles...all on the first try, if I remember correctly. Maybe I've just been unusually lucky with my experiences, but I've never really thought of working with fondant as difficult. Getting perfectly smooth buttercream is a whole 'nother barrel of monkeys though. I guess everyone has different skills and you can't really figure out what they are until you try your hand at them. I would be interested in learning how many of these cake kits have sold and what the success/satisfaction rate has been with them.

1. I'm guessing a bride who is throwing a smaller wedding and therefore has less to worry about, or a friend or relative of the bride, not the bride herself. I know you can't get a cake like for $350 where I live, that's for sure! Or it may just be someone who is curious about making a tiered cake or playing with fondant or whatever an they just want to play around an practice with something that's more geared towards a novice. Everyone has to learn somewhere and some people don't have the luxury of having classes to take where they live. 2. I know a LOT of professional bakers who simply copy designs out of magazines. Why don't you ask them how they feel about saying they've "made" a cake. And what if they don't actually make the fondant themselves (I don't know any who do)? Or if they use a mix? Or if they have an assistant making flowers? Do you still credit them with "making" the cake? 3. With clear instructions, covering a cake with fondant is not difficult, especially for people who are familiar with working with dough or spent a lot of time playing with Play-dough as a kid. I managed to do it perfectly on my first try. I think it's the actual construction of the thing that seems most daunting. I also imagine most people aren't going to attempt to make one of these things unless they're relatively confident in their baking abilities.