Calling all kiwis, sign in here!

Not sure how many of us are on here, but I thought I'd start a thread for New Zealanders (living in NZ). Even if you have nothing to say right now, please click 'watch this topic for replies', so that you'll be notified of future messages.

The purpose being; if someone has something to ask or say exclusive to NZ, all who are watching the topic will get the message, therefore increasing our chances of getting a localised answer or learning something from the poster.

So please come back here if you have a question you think other kiwis can help you with, and remember to click 'watch this topic!'

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Some examples:
Did you know that U.S.A. cups are 240ml, ours are 250ml - so make allowances with your recipes. Also I just read that Australian tablespoons are 20ml, ours are 15ml. That explains why my (Australian) Nana is always saying our spoons look too small when she's visiting!

Corn syrup appears in a lot of recipes, and it's not common in NZ. We have glucose, which is significantly thicker than corn syrup, but has similar ingredients. To get it the same consistency as corn syrup, put two teaspoons of warm water into a measuring cup, then fill it up to the 1/2 cup mark with glucose, and stir it in. Alternatively, there is a place in Mt Wellington called 'Martha's Backyard' who import American products. (they even sell crisco *shudder*). They sell karo light (the kind most people on here use) for $8.50 per bottle.
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That's an awesome opportunity, can't hurt to give try! Maybe you could pay her a flat rate per cake, or a percentage. That way you're not paying her regular money even if you don't have any orders, only if you're using her space.

As for petal dust, I only have one kind myself which I got from a local store (although I have seen some in spotlight now and then). But these places stock petal dusts, and I've ordered from both of them in the past:
http://www.sugarc rafthawkesbay.co.nz/zencart/ <-----remove the space or it will get stripped from this post
http://www.cakestuff.co.nz/zencart/

The British have the best stuff, don't they. What website do you use? I just found on in the UK which seems to have pretty reasonable prices, even taking into account the exchange rate and shipping costs. It's http://www.sugaricing.com/ Which is the one you buy from?




Speaking of petal dust, I was in my local cake supplies shop looking for pink petal dust a couple of days ago. The lady in there told me to buy a box of artists chalk, expensive but it'll last me a lifetime. I remembered then reading about it in the very first cake decorating book I bought. You just scrape some off whatever colour you need and it's just like petal dust. I went back to my book and read that it is non-toxic, but not edible. Much like plenty of other cake decorating stuff, such as glitter. (edible = your body will process it. non-toxic = it will just go straight through you, no processing). Anyone know if regular petal dust is edible? My first thought was that I didn't want the artist chalk if there's an edible option, but then I realised I have no idea if petal dust is edible.... anyone know?

this is weird, I just noticed this thread is in 'recipe tips and ideas'. I definitely posted in under 'general'!

that's a darn good idea, I just did a spiderman and wished I had a black edible marker to draw on his web. Didn't think about felt pens!