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Seriously tired of the lack of products in the UK

post #1 of 66
3/14/11 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Hey,

I live in the UK (probably guessed that from the title) and I am not kidding when I say I am seriously hacked off with the lack of decent products here. It's totally soul destroying when you come on this forum and listen to all the Americans talking about the 32 million different brands of seriously amazing fondant that can be rolled paper thin, won't stretch, won't crack etc only to find that it is not humanly possible to get it in the UK. I've tried emailing satin ice, I've tried to get Massa (this is the one I want the most), and what gets me is that I'm sure (if I'm not mistake) that Massa is IMPORTED into the United States from Switzerland??? So it has to fricking fly right over the UK to get there, yet we don't get a sniff of it, or even an inkling as to where in Switzerland it comes from! Everything in the USA is cheaper, you have great shops full of cake decorating goodies that us brits can only dream of.
I'm not kidding when I say it makes me mad.
Is there anyone out there at all, who knows of anywhere in the UK or from the EU that I can order some decent cake decorating items - especially DECENT fondant???
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post #2 of 66
3/14/11 at 11:09am
Have you looked into Squires Kitchen?

http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=home
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post #3 of 66
3/14/11 at 11:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nanefy

Hey,

I live in the UK (probably guessed that from the title) and I am not kidding when I say I am seriously hacked off with the lack of decent products here. It's totally soul destroying when you come on this forum and listen to all the Americans talking about the 32 million different brands of seriously amazing fondant that can be rolled paper thin, won't stretch, won't crack etc only to find that it is not humanly possible to get it in the UK. I've tried emailing , I've tried to get Massa (this is the one I want the most), and what gets me is that I'm sure (if I'm not mistake) that Massa is IMPORTED into the United States from Switzerland??? So it has to fricking fly right over the UK to get there, yet we don't get a sniff of it, or even an inkling as to where in Switzerland it comes from! Everything in the USA is cheaper, you have great shops full of cake decorating goodies that us brits can only dream of.
I'm not kidding when I say it makes me mad.
Is there anyone out there at all, who knows of anywhere in the UK or from the EU that I can order some decent cake decorating items - especially DECENT fondant???



Hi there, i hear you on this. When I go to NY I have a field day in their cake decorating shops. over here I use http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/. They do excellent postage turnaround (normally 48 hours and free postage on orders over £60 and if you use regularly you get regular 10% discount). Best fondant I find - Regalice. Wouldn't use anything else over here. Have tried squires - v expensive online.

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post #4 of 66
3/14/11 at 11:33am
See I use regalice and find that either end when you take it out the plastic has gone hard and if you don't remember to cut them straight off, you have to pick tiny hard lumps out for ages before you can roll it. Some of their coloured ones, mainly lincoln green and atlantic blue, no matter what I do, end up like elephant skin. P's me right off too. Waste of money and time. I wondered about covapaste. Has anyone tried it?
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post #5 of 66
3/14/11 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
I've tried ALL UK online shops and if you want to use M&B or regalice, then you are sorted, but having read a million posts and seen how amazing some of the United States products are, I just feel like we are using sub standard products. Having watched videos on Satin Ice and Massa, I am more than desperate to be able to use it over here and I think they would have good sales over here, because it's not like we've really got much to choose from. Here is a list of items I would love to be able to buy over here:

Fat Daddio Cake Leveller
Satin Ice
Massa
Fondx
Elite by Fondx
Cake Separator plates (the good ones)
Stress Free Cake Stackers
Ateco Turntable
Ateco Silicone Mat

and probably a whole bunch of other things that I've likely forgotten. I know that you can buy some of those things from the states and that there are also alternatives, but I don't want alternatives and I don't want to pay more in shipping than the item is worth.
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post #6 of 66
3/14/11 at 12:00pm
It's a fine line between workability and decent taste. Covapaste is horrible to work with (v.delicate), tastes OK. Pettinice is good to work with, but I don't like the taste. My favourite fondant of all time was Icecraft - gorgeous on both accounts, BUT they stopped making it as it had storage issues (was going mouldy well before the best before dates - I threw out kilos of the stuff myself icon_sad.gif). As the PP metioned, design-a-cake is brilliant. They stock several different brands of fondant. A new one is 'Sweet Success', you can also order it directly from the company (www.sweetsuccess.co.uk), and they sell small samples of it too, so you could buy those and see what it's like. I am going to try Sweet Success soon, but for now will stick to Regalice as it it's the most reliable for workabilty & taste that I have found.
AKA: bonjovibabe
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post #7 of 66
3/14/11 at 12:06pm
Oh, and I am reliably informed by several of my professional US cake decorating friends, that something has changed with Satin Ice that is making it nigh on impossible to work with these days - so the grass isn't always greener icon_wink.gif!
AKA: bonjovibabe
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post #8 of 66
3/14/11 at 12:15pm
If I can make you feel any better: I really think that Regalice (the good one from sugarcraft shops, not the grocery) tastes much better than Satin Ice and is about equal in workability. Satin Ice smells like Play Doh and I think it tastes vaguely like it too. I can't comment on Fondx or Massa, but Regalice is a pretty good product. (I use M&B for red and blue because I like the color better... but it's a bit soft.)

Edited: oops... I forgot that the word that begins with "sugar" and ends with "craft" is blocked!
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You can take the girl out of Minnesota, but you can't take Minnesota out of the girl!
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post #9 of 66
3/14/11 at 3:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cocobongo

Some of their coloured ones, mainly lincoln green and atlantic blue, no matter what I do, end up like elephant skin.



Glad it's not just me with those 2 colours! There's new colours coming out in May inc what looks like a tiffany blue colour! I hope they are better to work with!
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post #10 of 66
3/14/11 at 4:39pm
Have any of you tried the PME sugarpaste? I used to use Regalice til I tried PME. It has great workability and tastes much nicer than Regalice. It comes in 2.5kg packets, in white or ivory (at least that is what I get over here in Spain).
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post #11 of 66
3/14/11 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cocobongo

See I use regalice and find that either end when you take it out the plastic has gone hard and if you don't remember to cut them straight off, you have to pick tiny hard lumps out for ages before you can roll it. Some of their coloured ones, mainly lincoln green and atlantic blue, no matter what I do, end up like elephant skin. P's me right off too. Waste of money and time. I wondered about covapaste. Has anyone tried it?



I get that too but have still found it the best for their ivory and white. Lol oh my word thank you its not just me! I had to cover a large cake in that and brand new packets and still crackled everywhere! hate those colours with a vengence!

I've tried covapaste by renshaw - its ok i guess for covering boards but find it a bit like rubber! smells really strongly of vanilla so think it over powers cakes inside.

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post #12 of 66
3/14/11 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeRowesHunny

It's a fine line between workability and decent taste. Covapaste is horrible to work with (v.delicate), tastes OK. Pettinice is good to work with, but I don't like the taste. My favourite fondant of all time was Icecraft - gorgeous on both accounts, BUT they stopped making it as it had storage issues (was going mouldy well before the best before dates - I threw out kilos of the stuff myself icon_sad.gif). As the PP metioned, design-a-cake is brilliant. They stock several different brands of fondant. A new one is 'Sweet Success', you can also order it directly from the company (www.sweetsuccess.co.uk), and they sell small samples of it too, so you could buy those and see what it's like. I am going to try Sweet Success soon, but for now will stick to Regalice as it it's the most reliable for workabilty & taste that I have found.



totally agree have tried sweetsuccess for their belgian chocolate pastes on a wedding cake and for making roses - was brilliant and bride raved about it and the taste. was certainly a lot easier to work with than a lot of others out there. not tried their regular but may join you on getting some samples if their choc is anything to go by. thumbs_up.gif
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post #13 of 66
3/14/11 at 10:00pm
You are tired??

Try living in China, we get NADA at all here, plus a lot of shops won't ship over here and if they do, shipping is more expensive than the products themselves.

Then you get clients, who think, that because they live in China, EVERYTHING has to be cheap
regards from Shanghai, China
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regards from Shanghai, China
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post #14 of 66
3/15/11 at 2:17am
It's the same here in Dublin, Ireland. In the whole city we have one shop that sells colours, tints, sprinkles, sugarpaste etc. and it's way overpriced. There is one shop about 45 minutes drive away and that's it.

I order most of my supplies over the web from America or the UK as they are so much cheaper and have so much more selection. Last time my mother visited England she brought back a huge bag of supplies for me icon_biggrin.gif
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post #15 of 66
3/15/11 at 2:19am
I totally agree! I also hate that I have to generally order online as there arnt many cake supply shops. I love sweet success cakes. The professional shops use them instead of baking, they also use covapaste which I find is ok alot smoother to work with an doesn't have that strong sweet taste. I've got some sweet success silk fondant to try. I used to use tescos own when I was learning but I'd never touch it now. I only use regalise in black an red, I find it too soft an mushy. I have realitives in America who are coming over to us in the summer an have asked what supplies I need. Now I'm at a total blank as I just make do lol.
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