For Those Who Stick Wires In Cakes

Decorating By Cakepro Updated 25 Jan 2019 , 5:11pm by SandraSmiley

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cuteums Posted 28 Dec 2009 , 5:26am
post #61 of 289

I am so glad I did a search for this. I thought wire in a cake would be a bad idea. I guess i will have to use straws to protect the cake for my new year's cake. Thanks for all of the info, advice and suggestions.

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LoriMc Posted 29 Dec 2009 , 8:56pm
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Please forgive my ignorance on this subject, but what is the primary use for wires in cake decorating? Are we mostly talking about wired sugar flowers being stuck into a cake?

I do a lot of stars coming out of my cakes but I stick them on skewers.

Also, with the coffee stirrers, you are only covering the portion that goes in the cake? I have the same question as someone else. Does the wire and stirrer come out easily? Thanks!

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Cakepro Posted 29 Dec 2009 , 9:01pm
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Wire's primary purpose in cakes is to hold things up: flowers, arrangements, fondant/gumpaste decor such as balls, number, etc., cake jewelry, and so on.

The straw or coffee stirrer is to be inserted until it hits the cake board. I have been piping candy melts in the straw so the wire is held perfectly still and the wire and straw come out as one unit when removed from the cake.

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glorious455 Posted 7 Jan 2010 , 11:50pm
post #64 of 289

i never use wire before cause im a newbie on this art and dont have the opportunity for it but im so glad to read all this before have to, cause now im very conscieus about it and thanks for all the information and the tips you guys posted are very helpfully, im pretty sure when i make a cake with wires gonna be very safe for my family and friends ... thanks a lot icon_smile.gif

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LizzyLaw06 Posted 10 Jan 2010 , 9:04pm
post #65 of 289

thanks so much for this thread. i had just posted my own then found this so i had to go delete my thread. I am doing my first wired cake next month for my daughter's birthday and i was wondering how to do it.

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LizzyLaw06 Posted 10 Jan 2010 , 9:26pm
post #66 of 289

hey, this kinda excited me!!...check out this link for all colors and guages your heart may desire!
http://www.artisticwire.com/

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tonedna Posted 10 Jan 2010 , 9:50pm
post #67 of 289

The coffee stirrers work well for me. I do the fondant ball too and that works well too.
I wonder about those people that cover the wires in foil paper.
Edna icon_smile.gif

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itsacake Posted 10 Jan 2010 , 10:19pm
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Just musing so to speak, as so far I have always stuck my wires into a straw, a posy pick or into a ball of gumpaste on the surface of the cake.

But.... Ron Ben Israel, in a class I took, said he puts wires directly into cakes and PinkZiab says at Pink Cake Box the wires are put directly into cakes, and Colette Peters, in her books, gives instructions for making decorations on wires and inserting them into cakes, so why are we (and I include myself) so paranoid when it comes to this topic?

It is likely that the artificial colors and flavors we use without thought could be potentially far more dangerous to more people than the small amount of lead possibly leaching into cake, but very few people are giving up artificial colors or flavors.

And yet,though I know a lot of people who are very sensitive to artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives in life changing ways (I'm related to some of them) I've NEVER met anyone who had lead poisoning--especially from wires in a cake. Can't quite figure out why we don't think twice about that artificial coffee creamer or all the little bottles of color, but we get crazy about wire (or a hair--which is icky, but not really dangerous.)

Like I said, just kind of thinking on it... Not going anywhere with it....

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SarahSparkler Posted 11 Jan 2010 , 2:24am
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Thanks for the info! Very helpful, I never would have thought of these things and I am pretty concerned about the health and safety of others.

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sweettooth101 Posted 11 Jan 2010 , 3:01am
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Good point Itsacake.
there are some people who are against using aluminium pans too, and a lot of the wilton pans are just that and the list can go on with canned food etc. etc.
Most times the wires in the cake doesn't stay in more than a few hours, so maybe.....

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cardicard Posted 16 Jan 2010 , 11:55pm
post #71 of 289

Thanks very much for your information about cake wires, i knew you couldn't just put them into a cake but i didn't know what to use when you wanted only one wire, as the picks are to big. icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

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tesso Posted 17 Jan 2010 , 12:29am
post #72 of 289

Okay, just read the info on wire, and I am familiar with all the alternatives, except for a posey pick? what is it? does it go by any other name. I can't find anything with that name on the internet... help... icon_confused.gif

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Lisa93063 Posted 17 Jan 2010 , 12:30am
post #73 of 289

I was going to put wires in a cake tonight. Need a thin piece of wire to look like a handle. Any suggestions on how to make an edible one? I have silver luster dust. Gumpaste won't dry in time. Thanks for any help.

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PDXSweetTreats Posted 17 Jan 2010 , 2:06am
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Tesso, a posey pick is just a flower pick (it's what the Brits call flower picks). Wilton now has some fresh flower cake spikes (picks) out that would also work if you're doing bent wires with balls on the ends, i.e., something heavy that you want secured a bit better. icon_smile.gif

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icalise Posted 17 Jan 2010 , 2:37am
post #75 of 289

Very good info here. I took a class given by someone in Amazing Wedding Cakes and she said that a very famous cake decorating chef once had rust on a slice that was seen at the plate of one of the wedding guests....

She suggested always using floral tape around the bottom (where you cut the wire). I see the info on this post is even more caucious and I will use the straws.

Thanks!

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tesso Posted 17 Jan 2010 , 8:04am
post #76 of 289

thank you so much for answering my question. it was driving me crazy. icon_biggrin.gif

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The_Lil_Cakehouse Posted 23 Jan 2010 , 2:27am
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I have a general question about wire decorations, if You do the wire, in the coffee stirrer or any other means for that matter, how do you keep the wire from sagging. I always love the look of the stars or balls of fondant on the wires sticking out of the cake, but wondered how they got them to stand up without them just folding over.....Hope that makes sense.

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vickylara2004 Posted 23 Jan 2010 , 4:03pm
post #78 of 289

Thanks for the helpful hints on using wire. Now I don't have to keep wondering what kind of wire to get every time I go to the craft store.
Thanks again.

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Bettycrockermommy Posted 25 Jan 2010 , 6:49pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SassyCakes09

I have a general question about wire decorations, if You do the wire, in the coffee stirrer or any other means for that matter, how do you keep the wire from sagging. I always love the look of the stars or balls of fondant on the wires sticking out of the cake, but wondered how they got them to stand up without them just folding over.....Hope that makes sense.




You have to use a pretty strong wire. I use a 20 gauge.

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noahsmummy Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 10:05am
post #80 of 289

thanks for the info. =) am making my first cake using wire next week. excellent timing.

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Evoir Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 10:32am
post #81 of 289
Quote:
Originally Posted by sara91

You can purchase wire that is made for this purpose from Cake decorating stores.

Do not use craft wire or wire from hardware. They would not make that wire food safe.

There is some good information for Australians here on wires in cakes

http://www.cakesandmore.org/blog/2008/12/a-guide-to-wires-in-cakes/
For those of you worried about toxicity in your homes. Stop using all those products and open your windows. The average home is more toxic than an industrial workspace thanks to all our 'cleaning products'.




I don't trust whoever wrote this anyhow, viz:
"That it is being inserted into a low PH cake product. ie. Mudcake, Madeira, Buttercake but NOT FRUITCAKE (which is acidic and has higher moisture content) "

Yeah - uh - LOW pH actually means HIGH acidity! Duh! pH is a logarithmic scale indicating the concentration of free hydrogen ions (neutral being 7 on the scale)...my pet peeve is pseudoscientific BS masquerading as actual information.

I NEVER put wires directly into my cakes, always in picks or straws. No-one could convince me otherwise.

And I agree 100% about your comment on chemicals in the house. I love my Enjo products!

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nellie0228 Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 11:43am
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Thanks for the info. I had heard about putting the wire in the straw but was wondering how the wire would stand up in the straw. Thanks icon_smile.gif

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Bluehue Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 1:52pm
post #83 of 289

http://www.traderscity.com/board/products-1/offers-to-sell-and-export-1/floral-water-tubes-100821/

For those of you who do not know what a florist/flower pick looks like - this is a link showing one type.
Never use the little cap that comes with this type tho - as it may come off when removing pick from cake.

If not using many wires - just fill the pick with some fondant/medium and the wires will stay in place perfectly once the fondant/medium has dried.

Another type is longer with a pointy end.

Cost in Australia is approx .30 - .50 cts each.

Bluehue

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Kitagrl Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 2:27pm
post #84 of 289
Quote:
Originally Posted by sara91

You can purchase wire that is made for this purpose from Cake decorating stores.

Do not use craft wire or wire from hardware. They would not make that wire food safe.

There is some good information for Australians here on wires in cakes

http://www.cakesandmore.org/blog/2008/12/a-guide-to-wires-in-cakes/

For those of you worried about toxicity in your homes. Stop using all those products and open your windows. The average home is more toxic than an industrial workspace thanks to all our 'cleaning products'.




I have to think that the preservatives in food that we eat every day are more dangerous than a wire. LOL. I have a son with food sensitivities and chronic urticaria (he outgrew the food sensitivities but still has the urticaria) and I really got into reading labels...did you know that if you look up the ingredients to McD's fries you can't pronounce anything but the first ingredient, practically? (Sad that french fries have "ingredients" anyway!!!)

Anyway I'm not saying its ok to put wire in cakes haha....I'm just saying that we encounter chemicals and gross things everywhere we go....and daily in our food supply. (Yuck.) If not preservatives, then contaminants from the factories. I've gotten to where I don't freak out about it..yeah I wash my hands ALL the time and my counters stay clean and all that...but I don't freak out if a corner of florist foil touches my cake, and I don't freak out about the toys the kids play with, and etc.

The only thing that freaks me out is restaurant tables and shopping carts. haha. But still not enough to not go out to eat or go to Target. icon_smile.gif

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glendaleAZ Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 9:52pm
post #85 of 289

I might be wrong, but in trying to think this process through, I would think that the only type of wire/flower pick that would be safe to put in a cake would be the type that is manufactured for that purpose (like Wilton). A florist pick isnt intended for placement in food, therefore, it could contain plastic and chemical material that could be just as deadly, or more, than the wires and flowers that we are trying to keep away from the cake.

If I wrong I hope someone post a reply, because the florest picks are a lot less money than the ones that Wilson sells.

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Evoir Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 10:11pm
post #86 of 289
Quote:
Originally Posted by glendaleAZ

I might be wrong, but in trying to think this process through, I would think that the only type of wire/flower pick that would be safe to put in a cake would be the type that is manufactured for that purpose (like Wilton). A florist pick isnt intended for placement in food, therefore, it could contain plastic and chemical material that could be just as deadly, or more, than the wires and flowers that we are trying to keep away from the cake.

If I wrong I hope someone post a reply, because the florest picks are a lot less money than the ones that Wilson sells.




I'd say you are correct - if its going into food its got to be food safe.

And I am not the sort of person to 'freak out' about cleanliness to the point of sterilising everything my kids come into contact with - as a LOT of immune conditions are now thought to have arisen from OVER-cleanliness, but the issue at hand here is what WE are putting in OUR products, and even if the only thing you are worried about is whether you're going to be sued, best practice would dictate that you do not knowingly put a NON-food-safe substance into the edible goods you are selling.

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glendaleAZ Posted 31 Jan 2010 , 10:31pm
post #87 of 289

I should note that in the past, I did put wires directly in my cake, but thanks to the many post on cc I was forced to rethink my process to best serve the people eating my cakes. For me, I just became to big of a risk to continue putting the wires directly into the cake with the fear that someday a person who has an unusually high sensitivity to lead could eat one of my cake and then get very sick or, God forbid, die.

I now use either a food safe flower pick or coffee straws with a little fondant stuffed down into the straw to keep the wire in place. But, Ive also used RI and candy clay if thats what Im working with at the time - this also helps the staw come out when you pull out the wire.

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Ballymena Posted 17 Feb 2010 , 5:56pm
post #88 of 289

SPAGHETTI!!!
You can buy pasta called Bucatini which is a spaghetti with a hole down the middle. I use #6 but it comes smaller and larger. The #6 is perfect for a #22 gauge wire or thinner (the larger the wire number the smaller the size). I also use it to build my fondant roses on, it is very strong because of the size and completely edible in case someone bites it. thumbs_up.gif

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lea74 Posted 17 Feb 2010 , 6:17pm
post #89 of 289

Has anyone tried dipping the wires in chocolate and putting them into a cake after the chocolate is hard? Do you guys think this would work?

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moreCakePlz Posted 17 Feb 2010 , 6:36pm
post #90 of 289

Oops, I just made a cake yesterday (just for family) and stuck the wire directly into the cake. Food safety didn't cross my mind. I'll know better next time.

But I just had a thought⦠how about wrapping the wire in Aluminum foil? The Aluminum foil is food safe and it would bend just like the wire.
????

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