Top Tools Tuesday - The "XACTO"

******TOP TOOLS TUESDAY****

Hi all, Good morning or Good afternoon or Good night wherever you are!

Time to get to know about one awesome tool of this week. For all those cake decorators who use fondant and have a tough time cutting those free form, yet precise shapes and making those clean cuts, here is a tool that does it in style. Clean cuts and sharp cuts too!!

WHAT: The Xacto Knife!

WHERE TO BUY:
Xacto - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006GBSXG/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Disposable Scalpels - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006GBSXG/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

WHERE TO USE:
I use them for all shape cutting where I cannot use my cutters.

How can you get clean edges as in this pic below? Simple, Use xacto.

Image Courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/329281623771278/photos/a.32
9284370437670.84788.329281623771278/827773480588754/?type=1&theater

Explore and you will find a zillion uses for this amazing tool.

So, Whether you are a seasoned cake decorator or hobbyist, once you have mastered the technique of cutting and working with fondant, you will be well on your way to cake decorating like a pro.

See you all next week!

Top Tools Tuesday - Gel colors

Hello all,

Now Tuesdays turn into Top Tools Tuesday I will be posting a review and related links to a specific Cake tool.
Do join the discussion so that we can share more information on what we all know. Will archive these posts in the files section. Any cake is incomplete without colors. So let's talk about the various brands of gel colors in the market.

Wilton, Americolor, Sugarflair, Rainbow - These are the common brands used by cake decorators across the world.

Wilton
This is the first gel color that I had used and I personally use them for the basic colors since I dont find many options out here!
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm…

Americolor
These are my go-to gel colors that are easy to use and come in small ounce bottles. I like the ease in usage of these colors.
http://www.amazon.com/Americolor-Soft-Paste-Fo…/…/B001O8KQP6#

Sugar flair
These are available in the UK and though expensive, these are high concentrates. So one bottle goes a long way. I personally like the variations in the sets and love the pastel color set.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-SUGARFLAIR-H…/…/ref=sr_1_sc_23…
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5x20tOEe1c

Rainbow dust
These gel colors come in tubes and are the newer brand. I have the complete set and love the new shades of colors that I can choose from.
http://www.partyanimalonlineshop.com/…/rainbow_dust_progel_…

Other related links.
http://www.colorschemer.com/ http://www.bakedbyjoanna.com/…/icing-color-mixing-chart-pri…
http://thedecoratedcookie.com/20…/…/all-about-food-coloring/
http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/…/color-chart-and-printing-…/

All information provided in this post is just my opinion. Please try out and choose as per your liking.

How to prepare fondant?

For all cakers, making fondant is one challenge. Getting the right consistency and texture is indeed a difficult task. But it can be made easy with the right steps!

Thanks to Shraddha rai, here comes a post on how to make fondant.

This was a recipe that I got from some online site a year ago and made modifications as needed! and it sure works fine!

The total preparation time is approximately 10 hours and the prepared fondant covers a 9-inch x 4 inch cake.

Ingredients:

    2 pounds confectioner's sugar, sifted
    1/4 cup cold water
    1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
    1/2 cup glucose or white corn syrup
    1 1/2 tablespoons glycerine
    1 teaspoon desired flavoring. Note: Color might change as per the flavoring.
    Cornstarch

Preparation Steps:

1. Add the water in a small pan and sprinkle the gelatin on top to soften for about 5 minutes.

2. Begin to heat the mixture and stir until the gelatin is dissolved and clear. Do not boil. Turn off the heat and add the glucose and glycerine, stirring until well blended. Add the flavoring.

3. In a large bowl, add the sifted sugar and create a well in the center.

4. Pour the water and gelatin mixture into the well of sugar, and mix until all of the sugar is blended.

5. Use hands to knead icing until it becomes stiff. Add small amounts of confectioner's sugar if the mixture is sticky.

6. Form the mixture into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in an airtight container.

This icing works best if allowed to rest at room temperature for about 9-10 hours before using, particularly if the weather is humid. Do not refrigerate.

And here is one of my fondant cakes!

Hope this helps!

Tip of the week - Piping Tips

Piping is one of the main arts in cake decorating and the number of tips a decorator uses is endless. Getting to know the design for each tip is indeed a herculean task. So when i came across this article, I knew I had to share it with my fellow cakers!

Piping Tips

Read and enjoy caking!

How to use the Wilton Fondant (or) Gum paste Tool set

Working with fondant is something that I have started to like over the past few months of handling it and of course gum paste has become a favorite once I learned the art of making sugar flowers.

I have almost all the tools from Wilton used for working with fondant and gum paste. Quite recently my attention fell upon the 10 piece Fondant and gum paste tool set. Exploring all the tools in the set made me realize that I did not know the exact purpose of each tool. If I really wanted to master fondant, I should at least know what each tool is and what it does. I started exploring and here are the results! :)

Lets start from the left.

1. Palette Knife - This is used to cut shapes of your decoration out of the gum paste and fondant. It also can be used for easy lifting of large decorations.  It helps you position flowers in tight areas.

2. Thick and thin modeling sticks - These are the blue sticks with thin and thick points, used for frilling and ruffling petals and leaves; also use as small rolling pins for small amounts of gum paste. You can also wrap pieces of gum paste around the modeling sticks to form tubes or curved flowers.

3. Veining tool with large tip and small tip - This tool adds detail to gum paste leaves and flowers. It acts like a pen to carve into the surface of the decorations. It can also be used to make thin or wide veins on leaves and flowers.

4. Shell tool with knife on opposite end - The shell tool is used to make impressions on borders and to add texture to your gum paste decorations. The knife can be used to trim petals and leaves.

5. Dog bone tool with large tip and small tip - This is used to cup flower centers for a more open look and is used to shape and soften flower petals (like filler flowers). Also used to shape and create flowers, soften the petal edges by pressing the rounded end of the dog bone tool around the petal shape.

6.  Wheel tool with quilting wheel tip and cutting wheel tip - The quilting tip makes quilt stitches on fondant. It makes a pretty pattern on the gum paste petals. The cutting wheel is great for cutting stripes of gum paste or fondant with.

7. Umbrella tool with 6-division side and 5-division side - This tool is used to add detail to flower throats and tops of buds. You can also create flower petals by spearing the desired side of tool (5-sided or 6-sided end) into top of fondant bud on florist wire. Use knife tool to cut desired amount of petals.

8. Cone tool with serrated on opposite end - The cone tool helps you hollow out flower centers for your stamen placement and tops of buds. After petals have been formed on flowers, spear center of flower with serrated side of tool to create natural-looking centers. Use cone side to create larger well in center of flower. The serrated end is used to emboss a star pattern or mark divisions in tubular flowers. It also adds veining and dot details.

9. Ball tool with large tip and small tip - This tool is great for cupping and smoothing any size gum paste or fondant petal with out tearing. It thins the edges of gum paste leaves and petals.

As I find more uses for the above tool, I will keep updating here. Hope this post is useful for all fondant tool set users.