I saw this link posted on the Wilton board and it is great! Some of you may know it but if not here it is.

http://www.thecakestore.com/

Thanks for the link, I'm going to check it out now.

Thanks for the link

Hi tracyscakes, thank you for the link, I will also check it out now. Have a nice one.

wow! i love looking at incredible cakes.....then i always sigh and wish i was that good, haha
melody

Oh, my goodness ! Thank you for sharing !

Wow! I've added that one to my favorites! ok, if I worked for MONTHS, I might be able to something SIMILAR, not just like, one of those cakes, but I wouldn't be able to do a 2nd one! Oh Well, I can always dream!

OMG They are so beautiful. I hope I can do that some day!!! Thanks for the link.


Daniela

By the way I just thought I should mention that there are some pretty amazing cakes on this site also. !!!!!!!! A pat on the back to all of you!!


Daniela

Thanks for the info...there are some gorgeous cakes on there!
traci

Wow! They have amazing cakes. How talented they are! Thanks for the link. Janice

Thanks for the link. checked it breifly. loved what I saw.

I love that site! I can only hope to be that good someday! My son would love that shark!

I just love looking at all the cake sites that members put up! All I've done for the past few nights is look at cake pics!! My eyes are hurting!! I'm supposed to be studying!!!

Now, I love the sites like these but I have a question and I hope it doesn't offend anyone or sound too, too.. oh, I don't know but anyhow...I'm new to the cake decorating but it looks like a lot of the more the advanced cakes like the ones on the site posted are made mostly of fondant. Now after reading lost of post on here, MOST people don't like the taste, so...... I don't know..do people prefer the more smooth, exact replica cakes that taste bad, or would they prefer cakes like a lot of the ones in the galleries here, where everyone has REALLY used their imagination and skill to work the icing and just use the fondant as "touches" on the cake?

Dannie, I've been decorating over 15 years and I still don't do fondant, and I'm certainly not offended. It is pretty, but at every wedding I've attended where the cake is covered in fondant the fondant is peeled off and thrown away. People don't like to "chew" the frosting on their cake. I'm a buttercream lady all the way

I agree with you, I prefer buttercream myself and so do my customers. In addition, I would need to charge $4-5 per serving to make any money off of it. Fondant is expensive! However, it is great for adding decoration. I like to get my icing really smooth using the Viva paper towel trick and then adding fondant strips, flowers, bows, etc. It really does have a look that you can't get by piping buttercream. Plus, you can often use it just as you would gum paste and make your flowers and other little ornaments ahead of time and just leave them to dry. It really is something you should try if you haven't already because i gives you another option when you are stumped or want something to look more 'real'. I just used it this past weekend to make an apple to go in my roast pig cake's mouth. I made lettuce out of it and airbrushed it for variations in the green to place around it as a bed on the pigs platter. (I've been trying to post the picture but it's not digital and I can't get it small enough to upload. ) Next week I'm making a "bio' cake for a 40th birthday. I'm doing 3 stacked teirs and on each of the ridges I am putting little trinket that I'll make out of fondant or gum paste that represent things from his life, his dogs, football team, hot sauce, fishing, even tiny wedding bells. He loves stamps too, but I just traced those on rice paper and I'll paint them with piping gel then when they dry I'll royal ice the backs to make them stiff.

I've only tried the Viva towel trick once with no luck And I've looked at the Faux Fondant article on this site, but the picture of where the "tool" is placed on the cake is so small that I can't see it, so that doesn't do me any good either....and that's a trick I'd really like to try. Can anyone help me on this ??

If i remember correctly, that website is English. They use a lot more fondant in Europe. That being, said fondant is an acquired taste and some brands taste better than others - wilton being the worst. I've also seen people scrape off decorators icing, so I guess it's just a matter of personal preference.

Great insight guys. I myself have not nixed fondant, cuz for one I haven't tried it yet, and two, it may come in handy one day. Thanks!

Those cakes are gorgeous! Does anyone know how to make those chocolate curls?

They look like the ovation chocolates to me, that would cost a fortune to get enough to cover the whole cake though!

Thanks for the link

I have a TON of FAVORITES, so that, if I ever need inspiration, they are
right there for me!

This is a KEEPER!

Thanks again!

I've heard of people leaving there chocolate blocksunder a 40 watt bulb for 15 minutes to soften it and then using a vegetable peeler to get it to curl, but I've never done this and I could be wrong...