"decorating" news and stories

Have you ever looked at a cake with flowers on top and thought about possible hygiene issues? Or have you just wondered how they did that? There hasn't been any kind of industry standard, but the new CakeVase would not be a bad start.

Most of the time, decorators just put a plate on top of the cake with a floral arrangement on that. One problem with that is the plate may be too heavy. Also, you have no way water the flowers, so you may have some wilting by the end of the day. And no one recommends sticking flowers directly into a cake.There are ways around these problems without the CakeVase of course, but this gadget really does appear to make the task pretty easy, clean, and hygienic.

The website has more information and examples, as well as links to where it can be purchased. It's not too pricey, either. You get three vases for $13.93. There are two sizes of the regular vase, and one that's a ring so you can have flowers just around the edge. The CakeVase can help easily add a touch of elegance to your next cake.

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Though it's not exactly new, Sugarveil is a product that is mostly familiar to cake professionals. It's a really cool icing that can do a lot of different things and really add some wow to your cakes.

Sugarveil comes in a powder form that you mix with boiling water. After it's ready, you can pipe it over a design or use it with a stencil among other things. You just let your design dry, then peel it up and place it on your cake. It dries to be kind of like vinyl, but it tastes good and it cuts well.

You can check out the website for more information and ideas. They provide all kinds of instructions and tips. It's only $15 for a one pound container, which makes it affordable to try if you're really into cake decorating. If you are a serious home decorator, or a professional, it may be worth looking into to. Put that something extra into your next cake.

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Christmas displays are starting to appear in local stores and shopping centers. The orange-wrapped Halloween candy has been replaced with stuff swathed in red and green. Invitations for holiday parties are already starting to hit inboxes and mail boxes. Although it's only the beginning of November, it seems that the yuletide season is upon us.

If you happen to be one of those folks who already has holiday baking on the brain, here's an idea that might tickle your fancy. Instead of having a traditional cookie swap this year, why not turn your cookie making skills in a charitable direction. Over at the Perfect Pantry Lydia suggests having a party where you decorate cookies and then donate them to a local agency that serves children and adults. She calls it Drop In & Decorate Cookies For Donation. She's been doing it for six years now and it's become so popular that King Arthur Flour has gotten in on the act by creating a cookie baking kit to get you started. Lydia has also created a guide for hosting, in case you're looking for a little extra guidance.

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Piping frosting onto cupcakes, instead of simply spreading it on, can really change the look of your desserts. With neat little swirls, the presentation will look a cleaner and more professional. I have a pastry kit and will use the various star tips from time to time, but the best - and by far the easiest - way to pipe on frosting is to use a regular plastic bag. Simply scrape the frosting into the bag with a spatula, twist the bag at the top, just above the level of the frosting (this pressure forces it to go forwards, rather than getting stuck in the bag) and snip off the corner. A large opening is the best for covering large areas, but a small opening can let you get really precise when you want to use this method to ice cookies or other intricate patterns.

Kids love to use bags like this for decorating, by the way. They are much easier to maneuver than a spatula full or frosting and usually end up making less of a mess. Use a ziplock bag for an extra barrier between the frosting and the floor, just in case.

Gingerbread men are a bit of a hassle to bake. Mixing up the dough is not the problem and neither is decorating the cooled cookies or eating them. They annoying thing about the cookies is that the dough has to be chilled, rolled out, cut and rerolled before the cookies can even be baked. It is time consuming and, when you consider that you could have made at least a batch or two of chocolate chip cookies in the mean time, it doesn't always seem worth the effort. But there is no denying that the cookies are cute. Fortunately, Wilton makes a gingerbread man pan that can be used to bake little cakes, muffins, brownies and even mold rice crispy treats into gingerbread men. It is much faster than working with the cut-out cookies and you can still have fun decorating them. One additional bonus is that the cake pan gives you an easy alternative to cookies when the holidays tend to be cookie-heavy as far as desserts go.

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