Hi everyone
I am doing a Pirates of the Caribbean theme birthday cake and was wondering what to use for the sand. I have seen in the Wilton books that they use granulated brown sugar. Has anyone used it, and how would it make the cake taste. To me it would be alot of sweet.

Many members have said that they use crushed graham crackers for sand on beach cakes.

Theresa

I used the graham crackers. My cake supply store owner recommended a gold "sugar" that I mixed in with it (about 3 tablespoons, so it wasn't real sweet). It gave it a slight sparkle, like the sun bouncing off of the sand.

I have used the granulated brown sugar. It is not as sweet as white or powdered sugar. I have also used crushed chocolate chip teddy grahams. I think those work the best because the little darker brown specks from the chocolate chips make it look more like real sand. This pic has a smaple of the crushed teddy grahams:

http://f3.yahoofs.com/users/41aa34d4zabd5bdef/4613/__sr_/9299.jpg?phAty1EBm.DhGVMZ

I always use Domino's Brownulated sugar for sand. It tastes good and looks like sand. In my photos there is a Zen Garden that shows the sand.

Crushed vanilla wafer cookies work well. They are not as sweet as sugar.....you can aslo add raw sugar for a little sparkle or sweetness.

I prefer using Gold sanding sugar- it sparkles and I like the look better than brown sugar.

I have always used the graham cracker crumbs...kids always seen to love the taste.

I actually use Nilla wafers when I make sand (there is one in my photos). Matter of fact, I am making more sand today for a Jimmy Buffet cake!!!

Good luck with your sand!!

I used the Nilla wafers too, everyone seemed to like it. Picture in my gallery too.

I use a combination of nilla wafers and graham crackers chrushed and if it is for the cake board only I mix store bought light and medium brown bread crumbs

When I made a beach theme, I wanted just the effect of the sun hitting the sand, so I used an ivory colored buttercream and sprinkled it lightly with raw sugar.

I used vanilla wafers for a sand castel cake. I crushed them in my food processor, and it really looked and felt like sand.

I use nilla wafers blended with granulated sugar in the food processor - was afraid brown sugar would have a harsh taste...

jasra-

Very cute idea to draw in the sand on your cake!!!

-Michelle

I used graham cracker crumbs in the one I just did. I sprayed them with a small amount of butter flavored pam to keep them from being scattered over the cake in transport. Worked like a charm. You can see the cake in my photos.

I used Nilla Wafers mixed with brown sugar (crushed and mixed in my blender). It really looked great, and the brown sugar didn't affect the integrity of the cake at all- still tasted great, but not too sweet! HTH!

I did a pirates treasure chest and though I don't have the pic posted yet, I used light brown bc icing that had really crusted well, and then I put brown sugar on top of it so that they could brush off the sugar and eat the cake. The kids loved it, and I buried little pieces of candy in the brown sugar so they were 'diggin' for treasure.

I'll post pics soon, if the mom will ever send them to me. My camera phone was not charged up that day~!

I was going to use brown sugar on my beach cake, but several people on this site recommended crushed vanilla wafers, and they worked great! I crushed them in a food processor and used them around the bottom of my base cake as well as on the tops of each of my tiers. They tasted fine with the cake. Another cool thing about having them in between the tiers is that the frosting from the bottom cake did not stick to the top cake. I was impressed!

Add another vote for vanilla wafers. I used the food processer too. I loved the way it really did look like sand, I prefer their their taste to graham crackers (went perfect w/my vanilla flavored cake), and ditto for me on the tier thing - when I took off the top tier it was like there never was even a cake on top of the (sand covered) tier. Looks great on the cake board too.

I never thought to use vanilla wafers until I read that here. I always used crushed Golden Grahams mixed with a little gold sanding sugar. I like the look of the crushed vanilla wafers better, though. Thanks, everyone!!!!

When I did a sand castle a few years ago for my nephew's birthday I covered the whole cake in brown sugar and it really did not add sweetness to the icing. It added a nice taste actually.

I've also recently used raw sugar as sand on a cake, and think if I needed sand again I'd probably use that. I really like the look of it.

The look of brown sugar is most realistic, however it does make the cake taste 'gritty'... not sweet. I do not like the gritty taste of the shortening/powdered sugar buttercreams - tastes too much like what the store bakeries use. IMBC is so much smoother. Vanilla wafers crushed and then mixed with a scant measure of luster dust will give a similar effect.

Lambshack, if your shortening/pwder sugar icing tastes gritty, then you may not be beating it long enough. I also detest a "gritty" taste in icing. I run my KA at least 7 minutes and it's softer than silk. I actually set my kitchen timer for 7 minutes, and go catch a few minutes of Seinfeld while it's running! hahaha!

There is no gritty taste in my buttercream made with shortening and powdered sugar ... I don't sift and I beat on #8 on my KA for only two minutes. I wonder what could be causing a gritty taste? Powdered sugar isn't gritty at all!

[quote="TheVienneaus"]There is no gritty taste in my buttercream made with shortening and powdered sugar ... I don't sift and I beat on #8 on my KA for only two minutes. I wonder what could be causing a gritty taste? Powdered sugar isn't gritty at all![/quote]

Unless you don't sift it.

I've never sifted the powdered sugar and I've never had a gritty taste. Wonder if it's a difference in brands or sugars available in different areas of the country? That's weird!

I just did sand traps on my golf cake, I heard of using vanilla wafers but I did not have any at home so I used Arrow Root cookies that I bought for my Baby. I crushed it and sprinkled it over top of tan icing.

Definately use the graham crackers if the cake is going to be chocolate. You won't believe the perfect combination of the two flavors.