NEW FEATURE: MUST-HAVE TOYS

Hi Cakeland!

I am uber excited - the countdown is getting smaller and smaller!  Only 2 weeks until I head out to Kitchener, Ontario to study under the amazing duo - James and Marina!  Our class will be Haute Couture Cakes and we will be studying a variety of techniques over the course of 3 days (and a few spots are still open for the second class.  Some of these techniques include using silicone molds made by the fine folks over at makeyourownmolds.com and their line of Marvelous Molds!

That brings me to the first new feature to the blog - Must-have Toys!  I am a big kid at heart and love me some cake toys!  Let me just say, this first set of toys will not dissapoint!  Marvelous Molds (the line that brought us Marina's button and bead molds as well as Earlene's Lace molds) has added a new line - Sculpted Silicone Scroll Molds!  The line consists of 16 molds that can be mixed and matched to make an infinite combination of designs.

The introductory video explains how the molds are constructed and used.  At just over 30 minutes, it covers everything you need to know!  Chef Dominic and his team have really outdone themselves this time around!  These molds are bound to be the hottest things this year. They are all reasonably priced, and you can save by purchasing molds in various confugartion sets.  The entire line would cost a little over $300 to purchase, but well worth the investment considering your brides are going to swoon over the possibilities you can create for their special day!  I have many of the Marina and Earlene molds, and can speak from experience - any product made by Marvelous Molds is high quality and reasonably priced.  The molds all have a cutting blade that allows you to get nice clean edges, and some also have windows to be able to have depth in your design by allowing the base cake to show through.

If you live in the US, shipping from MYOM.com is very reasonable ( I usually order and ship it to my aunt).  I know what you are thinking - if you live north of the border, shipping and handling is going to be killer (not to mention duties and taxes), but I am happy to share that my favourite supply website - Icing Inspirations is the Canadian distributor! 

 I can't wait to get my hands on all of these molds - they work great with all sugar mediums as well as other mediums for non cake decorators. [K, so yeah -  I have a "hotline" to Icing Inspirations and I was advised early this morning that the molds are on the website, and quel surprise - I ordered the first part of my new "collection" - all 7 of the "flourish" molds]

I will definitely try and post from class in 2 weeks and share some of the fun things I've learned.  Stay tuned to the blog for more Must Have Toys, and I am also working a new feature called Cake 911, but for that I need your help - please send me pics of your cake disasters and a short write-up/question, and I will post it and help trouble shoot what went wrong!  I am also working on a few tutorials for the blog and hope to have the first one up really soon!

Until Next Time,
Happy Caking

Please note - the opinions expressed in this post were my own, and in no way did I receive any compensation from the companies featured.

DVD Review - Lauren Kitchens' Faux Food Series

Hi Cakeland!

As many of my faithful followers know, I have a few cake crushes in the industry.  I have been very fortunate to interview some of them and become friends with them.  I cannot wait to meet them in Reno this coming August - but there is one in particular that I cannot wait to meet in person and hang with.....

Yup!  Lauren Kitchens, or LK as I like to call her.  Lauren has got to be one of the most fun people to talk to, and part of her charm is her effervescent personality.  I have come to have much respect for her, despite the fact she referred to me as a dork in my interview with her.  I was not offended at all - I saw it as a term of endearment (considering my wife calls me dork all the time lol).  One of the interview questions I had asked had to do with the possible launch of LK DVDs - something Lauren was interested in doing.  Well low and behold, a few weeks ago, LK announced the launch of her first two DVDs.  I placed my order and waited patiently for my new DVDs (cake porn as I call it) to arrive!

It finally came on Friday, and I started watching them immediately, absorbing all the wisdom Lauren could impart on my eager brain!

The first disc I watched was entitled "Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey"

With a total running time of 75 minutes, Lauren takes you step by step through creating this Lumberjack sized breakfast of pancakes smothered in butter and syrup, 2 eggs over easy, and greasy delicious bacon.  The mediums used included cake, fondant, and probably my new favorite medium of them all - modelling chocolate.

The second DVD in Lauren's Faux-Food series is called "Sushi"

Clocking in at 112 minutes, Lauren walks you through making a Sushi platter so realistic you wouldn't believe it was cake and modelling chocolate! 

Both DVDs are definitely new must-haves in my collection!  They cover tips and techniques for a wide variety of topics: Modelling chocolate, carving, texturing, sculpting and airbrushing to name a few.  What adds even more value to the discs, is the way the are filmed and planned out.  The quality is some of the best I've seen (and I've seen many cake dvd's).  And the layout!  Each part of the project is presented as it's own step that lists the supplies required for each!  No confusion at all as to the logical processes involved in creating these two projects!  The discs also come complete with recipes, supply lists and templates to help you take the guesswork out of it!

In talking with Lauren recently, she said, "  I think cake people are hungry to learn but only a few of them are able to take time out of their lives for classes. This is a fast and easy way to get them info".  She could not be more right!  Lauren's classes fill up fast, and I for one would love to take a class with her, but our schedules always seem to conflict.  These DVDs are the next best thing!  Lauren also told me that she has 2 more DVDs in the works that will be ready to launch at the ICES convention in August (and I have already asked her to set my copies aside since I am going to be making the trip to Reno). 

If you would like to get your hands on these fantastic DVDs, head on over to Lauren's website and place your order.

Stay tuned for more dvd reviews, interviews and general cake talk, as there is ALOT in the works right now!

Until Next Time,
Happy Caking!