Cake Decor Cairns

Do you find it a challenge to get all your cutting mats to quickly dry without spreading them all over the kitchen? I seem to always have at least 4 or 5 mats on top of other tools and equipment to air dry, which makes no room on my dish rack. Besides my largest mat is too wide to fit! Are you like me? When I have a fondant / gumpaste project happening, I find I use several mats at a time, especially when I am using different colours and need to avoid pigment transfer. (Am I the only one who does this?) Then there are after workshop days where I have 10 mats at a time to wash, sanitize and dry!  To solve my dilemma I picked up a file divider from the stationery section at my local Big W store! It works a treat and fits perfectly on my sink and bench top. I chose a file divider as it's light, as 8 slots, the coated wire makes it thin enough to drape not cutting silicone mats on there also.  But wait!  There's More! I'm not one for buying novelty items,  so of co

A Basic Oven Thermometer.  The right baking temperature is very important especially when baking cakes and pavlovas. Even 5 degrees can play havoc! Too hot and your cake rises too high in the centre or burns on the outside, too low and you may underestimate the cooking time and take out too soon. Since following this simple tip, my cakes come out even everytime! Evenly Baked Cakes Every time.  Don't rely on your oven temperature dial! One of the best things to buy is an oven thermometer so you know exactly how hot your oven is, no matter what your oven says. If the temperature is way off, adjust your oven dial or call in an oven repair man to find out what's wrong.   Share ♡  Inspire  ♡  Motivate :: Home Bakers Doing it for Themselves.

I know it's technically not cake decorating or baking, heck it's not even kitchen related! But this fun roller paint activity is helping me to work on my cup cake toppers today! HOW? Okay it sounds a little strange so let me explain.  Little Miss 4 is trying to "help" with my toppers today, but because I am using a sharp blade to cut into my fondant,  I'd feel more comfortable with her  gorgeous little fingers being occupied with something else! I remembered I had been collecting my Mum Roll on deodorant bottles, each time I used one up I would unscrew the ball cap - wash and dry, and store for later use. *Now it has to be specifically Mum Brand  for this activity in Australia,  but just check your roll on bottles,  other brands may have a screw ball cap too. Once you've collected a few, you can then simply pour in your favourite colours. Make sure you keep the lids, and put back on after each painting session to stop the paints from drying out.

You're all keen as mustard to bake a cake but the recipe calls for softened butter and eeek! Your butter is hard, or in the case of Copha - rock hard! If you're anything like me,  you're a little impatient and want things to happen now rather than later. So what's an impatient Baker to do? Try this method, next time you're in a hurry. (It might seem like a basic idea but you'd be surprised just how many people don't think of it, or simply forget at the time.) Top Tip Friday #8 To bring butter and Copha to room temperature quickly,  dice the block into small cubes on a plate, with a smaller size the Butter and Copha can soften much faster than in its original block. Share ♡  Inspire  ♡  Motivate :: Home Bakers Doing it for Themselves.

There's a few of you that have been waiting to see it. So here is a low light shot for now. My husband has some better photos but you'll have to just settle for my mobile for this evening. This is what I ended up making for my nephew's 21st birthday. I tell you that this cake made me laugh and cry - omgosh especially when my handle that took over an hour to perfect wasn't dry enough and broke... But my nephew's face when he saw the cake was priceless!! He loved it, the whole family loved it!!!  So I'm going to just keep that happy feeling and be proud tonight. ♡ To make the 3D Illusion cake, I was inspired by Cupcake Addiction's pancake tutorial on YouTube. I used the concept to create beer pouring from a can rather than pancake syrup. Later down the track I'll upload some more behind the scenes shots. I'm exhausted now, going to get some much needed sleep! *Beer Pouring Illusion Cake: Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate gan

A quick and simple way to ensure your cupcakes rise at the same height (or as best chance as possible) is to place the same amount of  cake batter into each cupcake case / baking cup. And I find the easiest way to do this quickly is to whip out a 1/4 measuring cup to simply measure and pour. It works everytime! ♡ Share ♡  Inspire  ♡  Motivate :: Home Bakers Doing it for Themselves.