1. Always use parchment paper on the bottom of your pan. You can let a cake sit overnight and it pops right out.
2. Do not skimp on your cake pans. Buy the best and you will not need to waste time or money on heating cores or heating strips. I suggest M-a-g-i-c-L-i-n-e-. I have never used a core or strip on any of these pans and perfection every time.
3. Add a drop or two of vinegar to your buttercream and it will keep icing from cracking. No it does not affect the flavor.
4. Using 6 x commercial sugar makes a huge difference in buttercream icing. Also using Hi-Ratio shortening. These two combined make a very stable and temp safe icing.

How's this.

Yes the box mixes. You will be amazed at how lumpy they are once you start to sift them. I've had a few where the lumps were so hard they wouldn't even break up without some major force, grossed me out.

I always put a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter next to my mixer. I crack the eggs on the wrap and set down all of my dirty spatulas, utencils, and measuring cups on it as well. When it's time to clean up, I just throw it away and my counters are clean!

Wow...thanks so much! I have learned so much here...hope to put all these things to use soon! I would like to know what freezer paper is as well....

Thanks for the fantastic tips, cakemanOH!! I've never even heard of some of those things (Magicline, 6x commercial sugar & hi-ratio shortening.) I'll have to look into them. And I've never heard of the vinegar tip either!! I'll have to give that a try. Your cakes look awesome!

Wow!!! This is amazing. I'm self taught and have only been doing this for three years. I've learned more since September by reading the posts and looking at photos than I have with any other site or book I have purchased. Thanks so much for all the great advice.

Here's a tip I just learned recently (although the freezer paper idea does work as well). Buy some VINYL. Ya know...the kind that your grandmother used to cover her lawn furniture with. They sell it at Wal-Mart for less than $2 a yard. Put that down on your work surface for fondant and gumpaste...IT DOESN'T STICK!!! So, now all you have to do is dust your rolling pin- Less mess and less dust on your finished fondant pieces. Oh yeah, and remember that really expensive blue silicone mat they used on the Food Network Cake Challenge???- Forget it! You can slide your hand right under vinyl the same way and flip your fondant right onto your cake! Awesome for oversized fondant pieces.

-Michelle

Buttercream icing freezes beautifully but those storage containers take up so much space in the freezer. I use freezer ziploc bags and fill them easily by lining the pitcher from my blender with the bag, it fits perfectly and its so easy to fill. Press all the air from the bag and throw in your freezer.

I'm a newbie to put i do have some tips :
1. I use a garbage bowl like Racheal Ray for my egg shells, butter wrappers, whatever.
2. I put down one of those new thin cutting boards, that you can pick up and fold, next to my mixer so if and thing spills it it on that .
3. I also put all my ingridients on a cookie sheet the night before so i have everything together when i ready even the butter so it's room temp. by the morning.
4. I also sometimes place a garbage can with a fresh bag in it just slightly behind me off to the side so i can just drop shells and stuff in it with out looking.

This seems simple but I just caught on....I bought a cheap plastic putty knife and use it to clean my countertops. It scapes away crumbs and icing without spreading the grease. The plastic won't scratch the counter.

As for the Rachael Raye garbage bowl, I line it with a plastic shopping bag (you know the ones with the handles). When I'm done I just toss it in the trash, and I don't even have to wash the bowl!

Ooh! The piece of saran wrap around the mixing bowl is a good one.

My secret is I never use oil in my cakes. I sub out unsweetened applesauce for it, cup for cup. It does not affect the flavor and makes them so moist. People call them "Mary's moist cakes", and that is how they ask me to make them one. Can we have a Mary's moist cake? LOL!

you should be able to find freezer paper with the other alum foils, plastic wraps

http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/faq_detail.asp?info_page_id=755&prod_id=1798&cat_id=1337

When working with edible images place it in the freezer for a minute or two....It will pop right off the paper with no blemishes and then is easy to place and smooth.

I am a newbie and have loved reading all the helpful hints. Thanks!!!!

Hi All!

When measuring out honey/crisco/molasses, PAM or oil your measuring cup or spoon. The sticky stuff comes right out and you get everything into your cake. And yes molasses does taste good in certain cakes!

Enjoy!

I do the applesauce switch, too! It's great, however it does effect the texture of brownies, they become more cakelike instead of chewy.

I will also had sourcream, pudding mix, and Dreamwhip to box mixes. Does wonders for the crumbly strawberry favored mixes. Makes it firmer, but still moist.


Thanks for all the great info!

Heres my tip, when I need an extra hand filling a pastry bag I use a empty pringles can or a tall glass. Drop bag with tip and coupler in can or glass and fold end of bag over the end

Awesome tips. Wish I had one to share. Thanks to everyone else for sharing.

I've only been doing cakes for a few months now but I've learned a few tricks which have been invaluable!

1. When your cake comes out of the oven place a clean dishtowel over the top and press down to level. Cakes are slightly more dense and I have yet to use my cake leveler.

2. Use a rose nail instead of a heating core. Again, bought one and never used.

3. Wrap a strip of wet towel around you pan instead of buying bake even strips.

Hope these help!

I had a duh moment about the bench scraper. A few months ago someone suggested using it to clean countertop messes. It has saved me! It seems so obvious, but I hadn't thought of it. I was using an old credit card Thanks CC!

I had a few tips/hints/secrets but it seems they've already been said. My grandmother taught me a few things before she passed....

Spray the spoon or cup with pam or something similar before putting honey or anything similar to honey in it and it'll plop right out in one single blop-ball lol.

Dish washers are NO place for your Wilton pans!!!! Hubby put my sheet pan in the dishwasher with my heating core and it ruined the finish...

I use ONLY Wilton Bake Easy cake release spray but am going to try this new stuff yall have suggested and I've decided the best way to store that would be to wash the empty crisco can out with as hot of water as standable and maybe line it with a zip-close bag and fill it and store it in the pantry.... WILL THIS WORK????

Also I tried the clean towel press trick on the last cake I made... a sheet cake... and it worked great!!!!!! I have attempted leveling a sheet cake before with a knife and made a big goof when I went to flip it and it crumbled so I haven't leveled one since lol... but this works great!!!!!!! PLEASE ALL NEWBIES TRY THIS ONE!!

I think that's it....
except for a question.... I'll be making a strawberry (box mix) cake next month for my god daughter's birthday..... someone above mentioned adding something to the strawberry cake mix to make it not so crumbly and extra moist.... can you help me with this? lol.... can't remember who said what now I'm sorry so many helpful hints and tips

Oh speaking of tips.... having more then one of the same tip is an excellent thing! They are under $1.~ depending on which one you need. Two cakes ago I needed Pink, Teal, Purple, and white icing.... Pink teal and purple went into bags with the star tip... well I only had 1 and it was pure hell lol I had to stop and wash and retip and continue and it was a pain.... so I went to the store and bought 3 more because I couldn't imagine stopping and washing the tip each time I had to change again...

I think that's it.

I hesistated to mention this since I stole it from this site but .....I roll my buttercream in plastic wrap in the shape of the pastry bag, cut the end and place it in a the pastry bag cut end down. much less mess, much easier to refill (no need to for the tall glass) and ready for the freezer in the perfect size portions.

what's a foodsaver?

Here is the foodsaver Walmart offers....

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4228524

these tips are awesome!!! I don't really have much to offer though, im so new at this! But definitely stock up on extra tips (star, roses, etc.) so you don't have to constantly clean your tips. Also, to clean your dishes and get that grease out, soak them in hot water and vinegar. Most of you probably already know that though....

Love this thread!!!
My tip is make a little extra of whatever you are making & offer it to the family if you want helping cleaning the kitchen