A Thread For All Uk Bakers!!
Decorating By hailinguk Updated 25 Aug 2017 , 10:29am by Magic Mouthfuls
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Original message sent by natt12321
How does glucose increase the shelf life? :?
Any kind of sugar added increases the shelf life, sugar affects the 'available water' ie if the water is made un available to bugs by adding sugar the bugs can't grow :)
I add muscavado to dark ganache and a little butter too :)
ATiddy, I am in awe!!!
Maisie, how can you be so under confident. That cake looks scrumptious!
Natt, good to have you back.
Have a great weekend all. Xx
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Mmm, roxy I've done it both ways now and find them both the same, I'm wonder if its because the mats are long , in which I mean theres more to handle, Sarah's cake I made was done only using 2 strips, and it was an 8" cake, what do you think?
Nanny when I said I leave the lace out for a day or so I meant after I take it out the mat I just leave it out with some parchment paper loosely over it so dust doesn't get on it, I left the first lot I made out for about four days before I wrapped them up as I hadn't had a chance to use them, maybe sitting in the air for that extra time firms them up a bit.
Actually I looked it up after asking on here (I was curious) the reason for using glucose specifically is not to do with sugar so much as it is a humectant which means, as Gray said, it binds water which is what makes it unavailable, equally added sugar, propylene glycol or alcohol would do the same thing. Seeing as my cake doesn't last 3 weeks and my ganache does, I have no reason to change what I'm doing, but it is interesting to know.
Catsmum - it's good to be back!
A[@]petitecat[/@] thanks for the lace mat tip; just had a little midnight spending spree at the CDC :D
The good clay extruder is a good prIce on amazon too at the moment: [IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3246916/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
I buy the deagostini cake decorating magazine online sometimes if it has a tool in it that I want and is cheaper to buy the magazine than to buy the tool elsewhere. I have just been looking on the site and there is a new wedding special out for £5 and free delivery. you get the magazine,three metal rose petal cutters,a vintage lace mould and and two ornate stencils.They are a bit slow with delivery but all that for a fiver can't complain.Just thought would mention it in case anyone is interested, here's a linkhttp://shop.deagostini.co.uk/cake-decorating-wedding-special-edition.html
I got the same clay extruder on ebay a few weeks ago a bit cheaper.It works great I had a little press one before and nearly broke my hands everythime I used it it was so hard to push the SP through .
AWell, 5.30 is not a good number to be up at is it? Flipping thunder, grrr.
On a good note tho I decided to try making glass shards for next weeks cake, think I boiled it abit too much as it turned little browned than I wanted, when I put the blue in it turned a lovely shade of green, nice but not the colour I wanted!
Morning all - just checking in for 5 mins before I go out to see mum,
Tiddy - fabulous cake daaahling! You should be so proud. Am in awe.
Maisie - I did type a reply yesterday but it didn't go through I think - I think your cake looks lush - I think that's the right use of the word! Lol (I am very old and I can't get the hang of this new "lingo")!
I have the same extruder - didn't pay that for it tho' - cost around £4. Works OK - need a bit of strength though. As I have some problems with my wrist my daughter uses it. You must pregrease otherwise nothing will come out. We used it on the chocolate shoes for the edging.
Hi Barbara - I have probably missed the glass shards discussion - first I noticed it. What are you using? DD wants to make some gems for an engagement cake and was going to try melting glacier mints. Not sure about that really. We were going to get edible gems but I read somewhere that they go cloudy so she is looking for something that will stay clear.
Jean - thanks for sharing that lemon curd recipe - I love lemon curd but my husband hates it! Might be able to convert him if I make my own as I usually go the Gales route! :)
Good morning everyone.
Roxy, the magazine is a bargain- I especially like the stencils! Ack, stop making me want to buy stuff LOL!!
Have you all seen the rocket cake class by Mayen in Paul Bradford's classes? It has smoke, lights and sounds 
WOW
AI've got that extruder too, used to have a pump handle one and it nearly killed my hands, much prefer the Makins one :) you do really need to Trex your paste up though, and get it as soft as you can.
Sugar glass is something I've never done either, looks fun though! Kathy I'm sure I saw a tutorial for gems somewhere where they used a really stiff jelly to make some gems, will see if I can find it....
Ooh curd in the microwave sounds interesting! Might give that a go :) I looove curd, my fav after lemon is a strawberry one I do that's not got eggs in, sooo lush! It rarely lasts long enough to go into a cake :grin:
AKathy, I bought light corn syrup it calls for in many recipes, ( Amazon) few quid, then it was sugar, water and the corn syrup, like I said just boiled it teeny bit too long and it turned green, its fab though, wanna see it Kathy?
Um, if your old then that makes me old too, I' not ready to give in to that yet, iyswim, ha ha, had together that one in kathy.
AYes Mel I agree, the lady in the cake Dec shop say to knead in trex to chewing gum texture, I use mine reguarly, always works out fine.
Mel, I had a look at the tutorial- good stuff! The only downside is that the author said the gems aren't nice to eat. That's a shame because its such a cheap way to make the gems!
AI know, it's a shame they aren't edible but they look great, plus no need for boiling sugar (which frankly scares me a bit, being the clumsy type lol!). Edible jelly gems would be fab though, hopefully someone will come up with something one day :-)
Mel, maybe we ought to experiment with the flavoured jelly? The gelatine has to be coloured anyway unless you want a brown colour, so maybe flavoured jelly can be used. Do the jelly gems set quite hard, chewy or soft?
ADidn't win the EuroMillions, so guess I won't be buying my cake shop this week...
ANope me either, back to work on Monday then?
Hows your minion coming on?
Same here, no millions or euromillions! Ah well!
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Original message sent by nannycook
Nope me either, back to work on Monday then?
Hows your minion coming on?
I have A LOT of cake, two legs, two arms (very heavy - dreading how they will survive a car journey), an eye, some goggles and a lot of work still to do... ;)
Please tell me I'm not the only one who spends the entire caking process feeling utterly petrified...?
AYou kidding me, last yr I spent the entire journey in a bath of sweat delivering a wedding cake to Clearwell castle, checking every 10mins or so, made worse as I was a guest too.
No your not the only one M4rvel 
Petitecat sorry for always making you buy things but lets face it you'd be buy anyway with my help
I got an email about the rocket cake but haven't look at it yet.
Dayscakes I have been following this thread on her about homemade gummy gel to use in moulds from what I've read it tastes nice like jelly sweets, might help for your gems.
http://cakecentral.com/t/769021/homemade-gel-for-decorating-cakes-recipe/30#post_7518805
Hi to everyone else I might have missed.
AMorning all. :-) I've missed so much again!
Tiddy that cake is stunning! You must be so pleased with how it came out. Your customer will be delighted, bet they don't want to cut it!
Thanks for the cake compliments everyone. Victoria, it's Renshaws chocolate flavoured sugar paste with some SPD white mixed in cos I hate Renshaws. I had it left over from the peppa pig muddy puddles cake so thought I might as well use it up.
M4rvel and Siany, they are a bit wonky in places but I have to admit to positioning it at the best angle for the photo! My brother said they looked straight to him so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. I took it straight to the club (in aberkenfig Tiddy- don't ask! My mother told me Kenfig hill, she's reknowned for getting things wrong so I don't know why I didn't double check!)
Who asked where I got the cigarello's from? Can't remember (and haven't got time to scroll back 70 pages!) but it was chocolate trading company. They sell on eBay and Amazon too but I went to them direct cos they were a bit cheaper. Very expensive! I bought a little over what their chart said I'd need and it was almost £30! I dithered a bit cos that's a lot of money but my brother was specific with his request, he wanted it decorated with chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, "none of that disgusting icing cr@p". In fairness they were really good quality. I only broke 2 and there were 3 bent out of shape out of two boxes. The width varied a bit but that was good when it came to finding a small one to fill the last gap and the height was spot on, all the same. Delicious too, I don't like cheap chocolate and they were definitely not cheap chocolate.
Had a lovely time at porthcawl, bit grey and chilly when we got there, didn't put the kids off going for a paddle tho. Sun came out later and we had a lovely time at the fair. Aching this morning tho! Too old for dodgems now I think!
Sorry if I've missed anyone but we all know how hard it is to keep up don't we!
Oops, nearly forgot, welcome to the thread buzybakes. :-)
ABarbara - yesssss please let me see! I haven't boiled sugar for years so I hope it is saucepan friendly as I just got new. Jean I like your thinking about normal jelly I wonder if you could double the strength with extra gelatine. I presume it still will taste strange. But that wouldn't be a sin would it? If you tell them that it won't poison them if they get eaten I mean. Am on my phone at the moment and my connection keeps dropping so I'll have to keepcchecking back.
Yes Mr Marvel - you are a true caker we're all the same.
Kathy
Sorry Buzybaker welcome to the post, I'm guessing your posts are being held for moderation because it wasn't in the posts yesterday and is now.
Kuuushi Sorry missed yours to the other day, lovely shoe cake.
This moderation thing must be making newbies think were just ignoring their posts.
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Original message sent by roxylee123
This moderation thing must be making newbies think were just ignoring their posts.
If a post has been held for moderation it should come up with a little note or something letting us know when it gets added to the thread or something really.
aww maisie, if you were in Aberkenfig and went then to porthcawl you must have gone straight past my house!
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