For Those Who Stick Wires In Cakes
Decorating By Cakepro Updated 25 Jan 2019 , 5:11pm by SandraSmiley
I thought I would mention that I found cake wires at Michaels. Under Duff's new line. The back of the package says to insert them directly into the cake.
I always wondered why they didn't just manufacture wires meant to be used in cake. Now I guess they are!
I use spaghetti noodles painted with the gel colors and a little vodka for a lot of stuff sticking out of cakes. Not sure if I saw the idea here on CC or another sight but for the little that i do as a hobby baker it's worked great. Very easy to adjust how long it is to change height of something too. Just break a little off. Do always make sure that i paint a few extras in case of accidental shortenings though.
Nikki, I know this is a bit belated, but I make purse cake handles by stringing fondant beads onto wire, then put coffee stirrers in each end of the purse to hold the wires. I find it necessary to do this regardless of whether the wires are food safe because I don't want to risk the weight of the handle causing the wire to cut through the cake. I wouldn't eat the beads on the wire (but hubby would, lol).
Thanks for sharing your ideas!..Hope to learn more about decorating cakes..Keep posting....
Thanks for all the suggestions (coffee stirrers, straws, uncooked spaghetti noodles) of things that can be used to keep wire out of cake! We have a responsibility to keep our cakes "safe".
I thought I would mention that I found cake wires at Michaels. Under Duff's new line. The back of the package says to insert them directly into the cake.
I always wondered why they didn't just manufacture wires meant to be used in cake. Now I guess they are!
Except now they're already sold out! I had the Michael's guy check all stores in a 50 mile radius...nothing. None in store, none on order.
Duff's site sells them for less, except the shipping kills you!
I knew I should have bought more than 1 pkg.
thank you sooo much I am new to this and would never want to make anyone sick!!! people would really say I don't know what I was doing Lol!!!
Glad to know this. I am making a cake that may need a few wires. Glad I saw this post. Thanks!
Wow, I just made my 1st cake with wire! When I went to the cake store the OWNER lead (pun intended) me right to the wire choices he had available and said everyone used wire...I asked if it was safe and he said "yes". I'll be using the straw method from now on thanks!
How do you all know Duff's wires are food safe?! I looked at the package at the store and it says nothing about what the wire is made of...and doesn't say "food safe"...just curious?!
I use toothpicks for alot of my flowers...just dip in gum glue and insert into the flower base...let dry then build the flower on it...food safe!
How do you all know Duff's wires are food safe?! I looked at the package at the store and it says nothing about what the wire is made of...and doesn't say "food safe"...just curious?!
I have wondered that myself.
The only wires that are food safe are stainless steel, copper, gold and silver (not GF or silver filled...the base metals arent food safe unless the wire is gold over silver) Try the jewelry section of the craft store for these or the hardware store for stainless steel. Never insert cake wires of any other kind directly into the cake. At the very least cut plastic drinking straws longer than the wires and insert the wires into the straws after they have been pushed into the cake. Or find posey picks in the floral section of the craft store and use them for your flowers or wires. We should always keep our customer's safety in mind. And then there is always spaghetti instead of wire...
The only wires that are food safe are stainless steel, copper, gold and silver (not GF or silver filled...the base metals arent food safe unless the wire is gold over silver) Try the jewelry section of the craft store for these or the hardware store for stainless steel. Never insert cake wires of any other kind directly into the cake. At the very least cut plastic drinking straws longer than the wires and insert the wires into the straws after they have been pushed into the cake. Or find posey picks in the floral section of the craft store and use them for your flowers or wires. We should always keep our customer's safety in mind. And then there is always spaghetti instead of wire...
Thanks for the great tip inserting the part of the wire that goes into the cake in plastic drinking straws!
i have to confess i have put wires directly into cakes before but always use the ones i've bought from my local (only) cake dec shop, but i have to say i'm not gonna do it any more as i just don't want to risk poisoning anyone, i think the drinking straw idea is fantastic and will definatly use this in future
happy decorating [/b]
I went looking and found this... http://mmflyshop.com/NonToxic-Lead-Free-Wire-Round-Fly/M/B0035A0Z98.htm?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle
Angelina, thanks for the link. Those would be food safe wouldn't they? I haven't read this entire post, but what do the big profesional guys like Ron Ben Israel do? He places hundreds of sugar flowers on his cakes all the time. I can't imagine he takes the time to put all these in posey pics or coffee stirrer straws. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I've seen Buddy Valastro inset wires directly into his cakes. Not saying it's right, but does anyone know what the larger bakeries do?
I used cocktail straws for wires on 2 cakes I made this past weekend. For the first, I was cutting and of course removing the wire AND the cocktail straw. The other person cutting the 2nd cake (who is an executive chef by the way) apparently didn't hear me about the straws because I sat next to a young girl eating a piece of cake and she pulled out a straw! Ack...and it was broken!!! I took the piece of cake and got her another one. I then went and counted the straws to make sure that all the rest were accounted for! I was embarrassed, but thankful that no one got any in their mouth!!
Interesting thread.
I confess I am guilty of sticking wires straight into cake. I have sometimes wondered what the wires are actually made of, and if it really is safe - but then I assumed it must be fine because lots of cake decorating books and high profile cake decorators have designs with wire directly in the cake.
I am now trying to find coffee stirrers/straws which is next to impossible as they're not really used much here in Australia. Does anyone know where to get them here? or of an o/s seller who ships to Australia?
One of the first things we were told when I started my night school cake decorating class was never to insert wires into a cake, always use a posy pick or place flowers etc onto cake using royal icing. You should also be careful if you are using real flowers as cake decorations as some flowers are poisonous.
right weirkd, plastic straws are not advertised as PVC, PS & polycarbonate FREE... so all of those thinking they're playing safe may not
Polyvinyl chloride (V or PVC) Most cling-wraps are PVC.
BAD: To soften into its flexible form, manufacturers add plasticizers during production. Traces of these chemicals can leach out of PVC when in contact with foods. According to the National Institutes of Health, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), commonly found in PVC, is a suspected human carcinogen.
Polystyrene (PS) Foam insulation and also for hard applications (e.g. cups)
BAD: Benzene (material used in production) is a known human carcinogen. Butadiene and styrene (the basic building block of the plastic) are suspected carcinogens. Energy intensive and poor recycling.
Other (usually polycarbonate) Baby bottles, microwave ovenware, eating utensils, plastic coating for metal cans
BAD: Made with biphenyl-A, a chemical invented in the 1930s in search for synthetic estrogens. A hormone disruptor. Simulates the action of estrogen when tested in human breast cancer studies. Can leach into food as product ages.
Therefore the safe way to go (at least for now) is using copper/stainless steel wires that you can find in some craft shops and internet stores like Amazon.
Can it be true? it says food safe!
http://www.thebakerskitchen.net/26gauge6-inchcoveredfloralwire.aspx
DEHP, commonly found in PVC, is a suspected human cardinogen.
Does this mean that using PVC pipe as a rolling pin is unsafe too? I see quite a few CC ers that say it's great and was wanting to try it too. Maybe not now.
srkmilklady: yes, better don't use any PVC product as it can contaminate food upon contact. although is reported in very small amounts,,, better safe than sorry
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