In2Pastry

Oh, Kerry, thank you! I look forward to this with great anticipation. I have to admit I have never tried sponge toffee, so this will be wonderful.

Yes, hard toffee. I would like to make some really wonderful toffee then dip it in chocolate....... yummm

You are too kind. Any thoughts on what other confections we should offer in the course? ← What about toffee?

Kerry, I just wanted to add my thanks to you for doing these segments! I have already learned a great deal. Now I can't wait to order your chocolate series! Thanks again!

Art, this process is extremely interesting. Maybe I can get down to visit next summer and take a tour if your schedule allows. Thank you so much for posting your journey! I look forward to the day when you are open for business!

I haven't yet done this. I figured the first thing I would try would be a thin piece of room temperature or slightly warm caramel wrapped around a piece of marshmallow. I suspect that if you dipped them in hot caramel that the marshmallow would melt. When I dip apples or pretzels in caramel I do it when it cools down to about 90 degrees C. ← Thanks Kerry. I will work on this more and see if I can come up with a way to dip. the wrap around method is too time consuming for me. I will post if I have success!

Hi Kerry, I would like to use carmel to dip marshmallows. Can you offer any suggestions about preparing carmel for dipping? Thanks for any help!

What a great course! I look forward to it with great anticipation!

I would love to hear all about it also. If they do show it on TV it probably won't be for quite some time.

JeanneCake, do you have a phone number or web address that I can find The Dummy Place? I searched on google, but didn't come up with anything to do with stryofaom. thanks

Thank you JeanneCake for the tips. I will check out The Dummy Place for my stryofoam. I will post some pictures of it when I'm done, if I can ever get the hang of posting pictures. Thanks again!!

Thank you so much for the tips! I might just have to try the buttercream also, thank you. I have another question regarding a fondant cake-- will the fondant shrink on the styrofoam over time? I want to get a head start on this cake, but I don't want it to look awful by the time the cake show comes around. Plus I would like to have it around for awhile after to display. Thanks again, you are all very helpful. Kelli

Would anyone be willing to share how they ice dummy cakes for cake show competitions? I have done some before with royal icing (and I still don't have that down real well. ) I would like to do one with fondant and I'm not quite sure how to go about that. If I use the styrofoam circles with fondant do I need to round the corners so it doesn't tear? What do I put under the fondant to stick to the foam? I appreciate any help. Kelli

Thank you very much Tepee, I wil give that a shot. Do white chocolate plastics work differently than the milk or dark chocolate plastics? Oh, yes, please take pictures

Does anyone have a recipe for a chocolate plastic that will cover cakes nicely that they would be willing to share? I have been testing different ratios of corn syrup to chocolate but still haven't came up with anything that would cover a cake. Does anyone have a favorite purchased plastic they like to use? Thank you.....

Wendy, that would be great. You are right, her work is stunning! Thanks for including her web address!

Desrtm~ I would have to agree with Wendy. There are only a couple of magazines printed here in the States that are soley for cake decorating so there aren't a lot of choices. There are some REALLY talented sugar artists that contribute to this board. I can't tell you how much I have learned from them, it's wonderful. Sure hope this helps you.

phlawless, I used to use them all the time, but I found if I just lowered my oven temp, that I didn't have such a problem with the dome. Also, you mentioned that the cakes don't come to the tops of the pans, so I have to ask, are you getting enough batter in them? I fill my cake pans 3/4 full, so they always come to the top and don't run over. HTH

Wow, that is some great information on the isomalt! Thank you so much. I'm hanging onto every word. On a side note, I'm very sorry to hear of the tragedy that your family is dealing with. You have my sympathies. Thanks again, Kelli

Oh, hurry back, I just can't stand it! This is so fasinating to see. My dream is to master pulled and blown sugar and at some point I will! Did Chef touch on the use of Venuance Pearls at all? Just curious as to how those work compared to sugar. Thank you for taking the time to upload all these wonderful pictures! Kelli

****STUNNING!!!!***** Kelli

bkieth, once again I am awestruck! Ever since I saw you demo at an ICES Convention years ago, I have been a fan. Your talent has just amazed me. I am happy to find that you contribute to this site and with so much generosity. Thank you for doing this demo for people like me who need to SEE things not just read them. Once again, you are outstanding. Well done ~~

Chefett, I am just in awe!! This thread is unbelievable, I am learning so much from you. Thanks for taking the time and effort to do this!!

OH, Chefette, I just can't stand the suspense........ hurry back with more! I have always been amazed at what can be accomplished with pastillage. Thank you so much for doing this demo and I can't wait to see more.

I have used the cocoa butter mixed with powdered coloring and it works beautifully. I mix the colors needed before hand and keep the small bottles in a little electric skillet with water to keep them at a "working" temp. The powder color is great because you can get the color as light or as dark as you need. Good luck