Hi all!

My parents are in Florida at the moment and are willing to bring back almost anything that I might need for my new found love of cake decorating. I have cruised the aisles of Micheal's and Bulk Barn and I think I have depleted what I am willing to buy/need to buy from there.

Can anyone suggest what I should request they come back with? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Tripletmom

A turntable and a Wilton "tackle" box. Oh, and any round, square, rectangle cake pan they can get. WOW, the more I'm thinking about it, the list just keeps on getting bigger! I will leave it at that for my suggestions ]

Joe

A good 15" angled spatula.. Americolor dyes if they can find some. Decorating bags they run from 18" to 8" and the couplers. I sometimes use the disposable bags when I need to use alot of different colors (when I do BCT). And these are the tips I always seem to be working with and what I normally use them for... Tip #2 round (for writing), #3 round (for writing and outline), #12 round (for balloons), #21 star(for shell border), #4b star(for shell border) and #104 (for rose petals). I don't have a big collection, although I wished I did. Oh lots of cake boards! If you go to www.wilton.com you can check out the online store and see all the tips they have and what design they make under cake decorating shop.
This is all I can think of right now. Hope this helps!

This may seem tiny- but it's a really big help. A tip brush that is used for cleaning your tips. This is really handy to have, it's great for getting all the frosting out of the tip, and get any that may be stuck in the star tips. I love disposable decorating bags!!! They are extremely sanitary and so much easier to get your couplers out of them, especially when you have a ton of icing in the bag that you don't need any more. When I have excess icing and I am not going to keep it in the bag anymore I take a scissors or a kitchen knife and cut the bad open a little bit above the couple and then you can squeeze the excess icing out of the bag faster.
I say make sure you have double pans of your most common pans to make baking go faster. Especially your round pans and your square pans.

I second the Americolor. I just got some and I finally have a true red that doesn't taste funny!! Their neon colors are really good too. I would recommend meringue powder in a large size, the bigger the better. I seem to go thru the stuff like crazy and the Wilton brand is pricey for the small amount you get. The Wilton "tackle box" is great for organizing your tools.

I put in another vote for the Americolor!! The burgundy, in tiny tiny amounts, makes a gorgeous pale pink, the Avocado makes a green shade that beats the pants off of Wilton's Moss Green, and it's so damned cheap (esp from Country Kitchen)! And no more having to use toothpicks, either!

I'd suggest a bit of nonskid rug underlay for your turntable, if you get one; it'll keep everything from sliding off. Also, get yourself a good, stiff putty knife for the sides of your cake. Yes, a putty knife. Since it's got corners on it, it works so much easier than the rounded end spatulas. Can't smooth my sides without mine!! I have a 3" that works fine for me, but I think you can find them in 4" sizes to. (Works great for making chocolate curls, too!)

Illy