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Gigimama: New screen names, Dolores & Pwd?  Didn't recognize you at first!
CCChefDol: Right...we are required to change them
Bridal1: Didn't know you all by your CCChef names - when did that happen?
CCChefPwd: Just started Bridal
CCChefDol: now we are required to use the CCC names
CCChefPwd: Its just an official AOL thing - we don't know why

TOPIC: "Where do you get new Ideas for cakes?"
From books, the newspaper and from all of us...LOL...and of course, our cake books. The more of the old Wilton Yearbooks, or Mail Box News we have, the better off we are. I always go through my books when I need to create something special.

Many times everything isn't left up to you. Usually a hobby or other interest enters into the design from the beginning. In these cases, you may find a good cake pattern, if just a drawing is required. Or you may need to add some other shape of cake onto a sheet cake, etc. I'm going to tell you some of the experiences I've had in creating special cakes. Maybe this will help you.

GRADUATION CAKE: I created a unique cake for my daughter Sue's graduation. It was 'the story of her life' up to the time of graduation from high school. I had a 14-10-6 with a stairway down to a 10" round cake. On the 10" round I placed a baby in a cradle. On the stairs I placed a little girl with her dolly and a teenager with roller skates. And on the top of the tiered cake I placed a graduate. The dolls were made of gumpaste in her likeness. I added a banner which read 'You've come a long way baby' Later on I entered this cake (a re-make) in the Louisville KY cake show. I won everything! Best of division, Decorator's Choice and Best of Show! Mel Lopez worked at Wilton at that time and he was the judge. (You can see his picture in the Wilton Encyclopedia doing the pulled sugar with Norman Wilton. I saw him do this in person at that cake show...for 3 hours! Oh, I sent a photo of this cake to Wilton for a contest for Celebrate VI and won first place for $250.00! The cake is in this book on page 73. This book is long out of print. A picture of this cake is in my WEDDING CAKE WORKBOOK and on my web site.

BABY SHOWER CAKE: How I got the idea for the baby shower cake before my grandson was born: (I hope this is 'food for thought':
I wanted it to be very special...this was my first grandchild! Was I happy! Sooo, I had just learned how to use the chocolate coating and the molds...painting in colors etc. And I'd learned to make gumpaste flowers, I'd just attended Ft. Wayne (Country Kitchen) MINI classes...where I'd learned to do fine figure piping on rolled fondant cakes. SO, with this knowledge I needed to put something together. So I browsed my cake books. Here I found the "WHAT DO YOU SAY" book. It contains just messages you might use for different occasions. As I leafed through it I saw the message "LOOK OUT WORLD, HERE I COME" Perfect!
   So I decided to make a white chocolate 'baby' with 'wings' from the candy mold. I made color flow - freehand clouds. I made gumpaste tiny tiny daisies and rosebuds. To bring this all together I planned an 8" cake, going to a rainbow cake (horseshoe cake spread out some and the end cut off), and a 'world' cake...(half of the ball cake pan). I elevated the 8" cake on the old baby block pillars. I iced the sides blue and piped storks carrying babies with tip 1. I added the baby on top on an icing rug and stood up the color flow clouds.  Then I placed the 'rainbow' cake leading on over to the 'world' cake. You can view a picture of this cake on my web site under 'CAKE PICTURES'

Gigimama: Do you find that book helpful?  I'm thinking about getting it.
CCChefDol: I really did - I like that book
CCChefPwd: That book has lots of great things to write on a cake.
CCChefPwd: Happy Birthday in lots of different languages to
CCChefDol: like I said, that’s how I came up with this idea...the book

ROLLER SKATES CAKE: I always tried to make a very special cake for each of my kid's birthdays. For Joyce's BD once I made a pair of 'roller skates' cake. I made a 9x13 inch sheet cake, then the skates shaped and in 3D. For the skates I made a 6" square - for the 'shoe' part) and for the 'boot' part  I baked 2 cakes in Campbell Soup cans. I also sent this cake picture to Wilton - for Celebrate 2 and won first place. It is shown in the front of Celebrate 2. This book is also out of print.

So, you can see that sometimes ideas come from many directions. The final plan may include several of your favorite techniques. When the cake is very special to you, you'll find yourself combining many of your favorite techniques.

I think you can lay out sort of  a plan sometimes, for creating a special idea:
1. Write down techniques you know and would like to use.
2. Look through your cake books.
3. Start making a diagram. Write down what you know and the rest comes together better.

Other places you can find ideas:
1. Graphics computer programs...find a picture...did you know you can copy/paste it into your word processor? Then you click on it and enlarge - or decrease the size as needed. *Be sure to click on a corner to increase or decrease the size of the picture so you don't distort it.

2. Pattern books for cakes. Barb McCann's is my favorite. She placed several patterns on each page and its a nice book. She made 3 of these Pattern Books. Yes, we carry them : ) $7.99 each

3. From coloring books or newspapers...but don't do any that are copyrighted, such as Disney etc. that would be an infringement on someone else's rights. On this subject; in a discussion recently on my Message Board...people were trying to 'get around' the copyright laws. If you think about this you won't want to. These characters are something they created and you can understand that they don't want other people copying them without permission. Just as you would not like it if someone copied you copyrighted book, article, or whatever.

IDEAS FOR CAKES COME FROM LOTS OF SOURCES.   Knowing a person,  what they do for a living, what they do for fun, what is their favorite hobby.   What is memorable in their life at the moment.  I remember doing a birthday cake for a teenager one time that I piped a nose on a cake with a big bandage on it.  He had broken his nose playing football and it  was his 16th birthday.   Who says cakes have to be serious?
I have done cakes that looked like pizza's, hamburgers,  armadillos, artist pallets, trains, trucks, cars, and etc that have all been three dimensional.  But those are a little harder to do and you absolutely must charge the customers a higher price.

CAKE DECORATING BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS ARE A WEALTH OF IDEAS FOR THE BEGINNER.  There are an abundance of books out now for cake decorators.  Many from England but also several from authors here in the states.   Roland Winbeckler's are small but loaded with practical ideas.   Our own Dolores has several books that she has authored.  Colette peters has several and I understand she is now working on a new birthday cake book. Shirley Jackson has a couple.  Diane Shavkin has a few.   Scott Wolley has a beautiful new book with some really nice gumpaste flowers and cakes.  You just have to find a local shop that will stock these for you or order them from Dolores.  You can also find some of these at the amazon book store online.  I have ordered several books from them and their service is prompt.

NEWSLETTERS -  several states put out newsletters and of course the ices newsletter is outstanding with the four pages of color pictures in the center of each newsletter.  There is usually a how to article and recipes besides news of the upcoming ices convention.  This year in Minnesota I sure hope to meet some of you there.   Dolores and I are both going and hope we will get to put some faces with your names. Check out their web page at http://www.ices.org

MAGAZINES - American Cake Decorating is a real bargain for you decorators.  Only $19 a year for an issue every other month.  It is loaded with neat ideas from decorators all over the us.  Lots of good ideas in this magazine with the instructions.  I talked to Addie the other night and asked her just what stores are supposed to have ACD.  She said some Barnes and Noble stores, cloth world, Jo Ann's, borders, and Michael's.  She said some of the grocery stores are now picking it up but they have no way of knowing exactly where they are being distributed.  They just send them to the distributor and then it is out of their hands.  There are other magazines from England and Australia but they are very expensive.  Around $50 a year for 12 issues I think.

Then of course we have the MAIL BOX NEWS which has been published for many years.  I think I have some of those magazines dated back in the late 60's. Nearly all of the pictures are sent in and shared by cake decorators just like you.   This is one magazine with lots of beginner cakes and a few more advanced decorators sending in things once in a while.  A really good magazine for beginner decorators.

YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE A WEALTH OF IDEAS.  I encourage mine to get creative.  Then once in a while I think I have lost my mind. Such as last December when that groom came in three weeks before his wedding and wanted that Italian villa building.  That cake took me around 80 hours and I way under-priced that baby.  It was challenging and that is half of the fun of this business.

THEN OCCASIONALLY THE FUN ONES COME ALONG.  The BOTTLE was a really basic 3d cake.  That was fun.  The coloring was a challenge but the construction was not difficult.  The pizza  and hamburger cakes are fun cakes.  But they are very time consuming.  Remember your time is valuable so charge more than you think it cost.  If it takes less time to do it you can always refund some of what you charged them.  But you cannot go up on the price after you have finished the cake.  So far I have never overcharged for my time.  Occasionally I think I am overcharging them.  But when I keep track of the time it takes to bake, make the icing, make the flowers, and all of the other details that some customers want I usually don't make much an hour.  I have one cake coming up this summer that is $12 a serving.  But it is rolled fondant, 2 types of lace points, and all gumpaste flowers and leaves cascading down the four tiers.   I will have earned my money by the time they get that cake.

Groom's Cake:    "A Bottle"
(The sculpture mechanics can also be incorporated into other cake designs).

Equipment

1.    A 14" by 3/4" wooden board covered with foil
2.    5/8" by 27" wooden dowel
3.    One roll of white, contact, self-adhesive paper
4.    5, 7 1/2" cardboards covered with white contact paper and a 5/8" hole cut in the middle of each one
5.    3, 3 1/2" cardboards covered with white contact paper and a 5/8" hole cut in the middle of each one
6.    7,  8" by 2" cakes split evenly and 1/2 - 7" split cake
7.    6, 4" diameter cakes or these can be cut from a sheet cake
8.    Buttercream icing and food colors
9.    1/2 lb. fondant icing
10.  Angled spatulas, tips and parchment
11.  Straws for support
12.  Hollow dowels to cover the wooden center support
13.  Scissors
14.  Tubing cutters

Instructions:

1.    Drill a 5/8" hole in the center of the wooden board and glue the 5/8" dowel securely into that board.
2.    Cover the base wooden board with foil.  Then, cover all of the cardboards on both sides with the white contact paper.
3.    Slip the first cardboard over the dowel rod and down to the base.  I split these cakes so that I could work with a 3-inch height for better
support.  Cut a hole in the center of each round cake and slip the first one down onto the cardboard.  Remember to put a little icing between the
cardboard and the first layer of cake so it will not slip around.
4.    Layer icing and cake until you have reached approximately 3 to 3 1/2 inches in height.  Ice the top and then cut a hollow dowel the same
height a the cake and insert it over the wooden dowel.  Cut several straws the same height and insert it into the cake - spacing evenly for
support.
5.    Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.
6.    Slip another cardboard down and repeat steps 2 to 4 until you reach the 16 inch height.  Then, you will need one 7" layer cake.
7.    Now, begin layering the 4-inch cakes in the same method.  Your final height should be approximately 28 inches tall.
8.    Trim and shape the cakes as necessary to achieve the shape of the bottle.
9.    Crumb coat the entire cake.  (A crumb-coating frosting is thinned-down buttercream frosting).

Let the cake sit overnight.

Next-Day Instructions:

1.    Ice the bottom inch with white icing.  Let this icing form a crust and cut a band of paper 3/4 inches wide to go around that white icing.  Place
the paper band over the white icing and tape it together.  Remove the icing just above this band.
2.    Ice from the band at the base to just above where the dark green band goes on the neck of the bottle with the bottle (what ever bottle you are making)-colored icing.  It
took a mixture of copper, borwn, red and egg yellow to achieve this color.
3.    Trim the top to a hexagon shape for the lid.
4.    Ice from there to the top of the bottle with white icing.
5.    Color some rolled-fondant, dark green and roll it out on waxed paper.  Make yourself a paper pattern the size needed for the green label to
fit all the way around the bottle neck.  Cut the fondant to the size of your pattern on the waxed paper.
6.    Brush water on the entire surface of the green fondant.  Carefully, lift and place the green icing around the neck of the bottle pressing
gently to attach it to the buttercream icing underneath.
7.    Wrap a wide piece of paper around the upper neck - just under where the cap base will be.
8.    Roll out a piece of red fondant and place it over the top and shape it like the bottle lid.  Trim the bottom as evenly as possible and remove
the red excess fondant.
9.    With a dowel rod, gently encourage the icing between the green label and the red lid to form the ring of the neck of the bottle.
10.  Make yourself a pattern for the front and back labels on the bottle.  Pin prick the lines, circles and writing.
11.  Roll out white fondant on waxed paper and cut to the shape of your patterns for the labels.
12.  Brush a light coating of water on one label and gently attach it in the appropriate place and then cut and attach the other label.
13.  Place the pin pricked patterns over the labels - pinning in strategic places to hold the patterns in place.  With a cotton ball and cocoa, rub
over the holes in the designs to allow the cocoa to go through and mark your writing, circles and squares.  The back label is very difficult to
write on as the label writing is vertical on the bottle instead of horizontal.  With the marking of the lettering, it becomes a manageable
achievement to write this evenly.  You almost have to stand on your head to write on this label.
14.  With buttercream-colored icings and tips 1, 2, 3 and 4, do all writing on the bottle.
15.  Let this dry.
16.  Thin some piping gel with water until you have a thin substance that you can brush over all surfaces that need to be shiny.
17.  Let this dry overnight.
18.  Deliver and stand back and watch the reactions!

email Dolores for finished bottle if you want: proicer@sugarcraft.com

Additional Suggestions & Hints

1.    The first place to eliminate construction problems is to make sure you have a good handling cake to work with.  A cake that is easy to
handle and will stay together when you move it around is idea.
2.    Icing that is too thick or firm will make it difficult for you to ice a cake and smooth it easily.  The solution is to add more liquid or
shortening or decrease the powdered sugar in your recipe.
3.    Icing that is too think will create other problems such as wrinkling, being too sticky so you cannot smooth the icing, etc.  The solution is to
add more powdered sugar or decrease the liquid.
4.  Good planning is th next step to eliminating construction problems.  When I am asked to do a new design that requires some unusual
construction, the first step is to make a scaled sketch.  Even the bottle, which is a simple three dimensional cake, required some
planning.  The first step was to measure the bottle and then make a drawing in the same measurement scale to figure how many servings you
will have.  The bottle measured approximately 2" diameter at the base, 1" at the neck of the bottle and about 7" in height.  When that cake
was ordered, they wanted 75 servings.  So, once you have scaled up the cake to the size you think will work, you then need to figure out how
many cake layers it will take to construct it in that size as well as how many servings will be in that total cake after construction.  A simple
multiplication of 4 would make this cake 8" in diameter at the base, 4" at the neck and 28" tall.  This will take 7, 8" layers; 1, 7" layer and
about 6, 4" layers.  This will make approximately 90 servings.  Okay, now you know what size cakes must be used.  Now, you will need to
decide just how you are going to make this tall, slim cake stable and how you will support it.  A wooden, 14" circle was cut out with a 5/8" dowel
attached right in the middle.  Then the cake was built on top of that base.  It was very stable for the drive across town.

CCChefDol: This cake is on our old chats - picture
CCChefDol: Icing...Pwd did it...no, just recently
Icing Wiz: was that villa at last convention Dolores?
CCChefPwd: No - real cake for real people
Bridal1: well, Pwd, couldn't you recreate it for convention so we could see it???  LOL
CCChefPwd: You are dreaming Bridal - like a nightmare to fly with
Bridal1: I know - just teasing!!
CCChefDol: My students were SO impressed with your  bottle Pwd!

PORTRAITS ON CAKES are very time consuming.  But if a customer really wants that type of design they are usually willing to pay extra for that.

There are a multitude of PLASTIC TOYS AND CAKE TOP PIECES FOR KIDS now.  Don't get yourself into trouble with the copyright laws.  Use those plastic pieces.  Have the customer get what she wants to use on the cake and then get creative with the scenery around the figures.  Gumdrop and pretzel trees.  Royal icing leaves on pointed ice cream cones.  Colored chopped coconut stuck on marshmallows covered with royal icing for bushes. Candy rocks.   Caves made from cupcakes with fondant lining the underside of the cave.  Stalactite and stalagmites handing made from  clear hard candy.  Trains made from candy bars.  Licorice for railroad tracks. White picket fences made from royal icing.  Split log fences made with pretzels and brown royal icing.  Don't be afraid of using new things on your cakes.  That is what makes this fun.  Get creative and just enjoy.  The best way to enhance your own creative ideas is to get together with another cake decorator and bounce ideas off of one another.   Sometimes you can come up with some pretty nifty ideas that way.

CCChefDol: the tiny flower sprinkles always dress up scenery cakes too
LauraJMD: where can you buy candy rocks?
CCChefDol: at Sugarcraft
CCChefDol: The picket fence is in the new Wilton Course 2 book
Gigimama: How different are the new Wilton courses?
Icing Wiz: course 3 is    very different GIGI
Icing Wiz: the old course 3 or the new course 2 from Wilton
CCChefDol: Icing?...course 2 has the picket fence
Tha503: what is in the new course 3?
Icing Wiz: I can't remember I haven’t used the old books up yet
CCChefDol: Coarse 3 now has rolled fondant in it
CCChefDol: they took stuff out of course 2 in the new books...easy to finish in time now. I do 2 1/2 hrs and it still was hard to get it all in
Icing Wiz: Yes I had always run over time
Icing Wiz: No 2 isn't much different but 3 really has changed
Gigimama: It was hard to do all those flowers in the time allowed! I never got to take course 3 when I took the others 3 years ago. Should I re-take #2 now

MANDMRSJ2: My husband's favorite cake was one I decorated with new fishing lures
Bakn Beth: I get my ideas from cakes by looking through kids bedding books, to see what the current colors and looks are. Where are these books?
CCChefDol: Bakn...what books?
Bakn Beth: for cake decorators
Bridal1: Come to ICES convention - you'll find most of them there!!!  Bring M
CCChefDol: Bridal...read all about the mid year while ago...must have been nice
Bridal1: Midyear was fun!!!  Just lots of work
Gigimama: American Cake Decorating has several features each month, plus readers cakes and sometimes  shows highlights
Gigimama: I met the publishers at a show last weekend
MANDMRSJ2: What if you're a novice and not a pro?  Are these newsletters good for us?
CCChefDol: MAND...yes they are...not nearly everyone is a pro
CCChefDol: I like Mail Box News best for simple cakes
Bridal1: Mail Box News is great - I have it clear back to some of the 1958 issues.
Icing Wiz: I love mailbox news you can get free copies for students
CCChefDol: MBN is going to put my cake order forms in again soon..did 8 yrs ago too
Cake Wmn: Pwd, the price of a least one English book is $119
CCChefPwd: Oh my - I had no idea the price had gone up that much

CarolA5238: I found some pretty Easter eggs in the April issue of Victoria.
CCChefDol: Carol...sugar eggs?
CarolA5238: No they're chocolate. It's called Easter Eggs A La Russe. Art work by Elizabeth Harrison.

MANDMRSJ2: Question: If you bake a cake in a soup can, how do you adjust time and temp?
CCChefDol: MAND - bake til done when you press the center...springs back up = done

CCChefDol: I had an armadillo request just today...email someone wanted to do it for grooms cake
Icing Wiz: Dolores do you do the armadillo out of icing or carved cake?
CCChefPwd: I bet I got an E-Mail from the same one.
CCChefDol: LOL...I bet I told her about you : )
CCChefDol: I don't do the armadillo - too far north for request...was an email from TX

Bakn Beth: I need an idea....what type of cakes do you donate to bake sales?
CCChefDol: depends Bakn...is it a cake walk?
Bakn Beth: No, I just mean in general, I want to get my name out there and
there are lots coming up.... Should they be elaborate or simple
CCChefDol: Then bake several small NICELY decorated cakes maybe. Make them remember you - however - Bakn
CCChefPwd: Simple and yummy Bakn
Bridal1: Bakn, do something eye catching and possibly fun and bright.

Bakn Beth: I am doing a Barney cake and a Arthur cake for my cousins.......... Can anyone help think of a background for either of them? Barney/Arthur on top, then a sheet cake under...
Bridal1: Arthur looks like a mole or something.
Bakn Beth: He is an ardvark

LauraJMD: I need to make a VW beetle cake for my son.. any ideas? My son LOVES VW beetles.. his Dad used to have a 1972 beetle////
Bakn Beth: New VW or Old?
LauraJMD: old
CCChefDol: round cake on-side Bakn...VW
L2jlu2: Dol- Arthur is a cartoon on PBS he's an Artvaark (Spll??)
LauraJMD: stack several round cakes together and sculpt?? for VW?
Icing Wiz: I have made a race car the top of it was ball pan
CCChefDol: yes, for a VW car...a round cake, cut in half. put 2 halves together, flat side down, icing between
CCChefDol: I had to make an old antique car once for a wedding cake...white and 3D
IcingQueen: For the" Love Bug" cake Cut a single layer in !/2 and stand upright. Use Oreo cookies for the wheels and pipe bumpers etc in icing.
CCChefDol: cars on my web pages - pictures
LauraJMD: I'm going to try a VW cake.. I'll let you know how it turns out....
CCChefPwd: TOP OF BEETLE COULD BE A HALF OF A BALL PAN AND THEN CARVE EASY BAKN
LauraJMD: I found an antique VW beetle candy mold at a gallery here... $89.00 too rich for my blood..
CCChefPwd: For a candy mold.   WOW
CCChefDol: 89.00! WOW

Icing Wiz: You could also try color flow for VW
Bakn Beth: Is color flow hard to do?
Icing Wiz: very easy Beth
LauraJMD: never tried color flow
CCChefPwd: Pipe and fill in your design.  Let it dry a couple of days and then turn it over and pipe a little more icing on the back and insert some toothpicks so it will stand up.
Bakn Beth: I looks very difficult, is there a certain class just for that?
CCChefDol: VW...put a sheet of styrofoam underneath and then the Oreo wheels look better
Icing Wiz: by using color flow you can do almost anything that you have a picture of
CCChefDol: Bakn...the color flow tips are on my web site too

Cindycake1: I had to make a racecar track with cars for a grooms cake. Used racecar Jell-O mold, filled
with fondant and hand painted when dry. then placed on track on top of cake

Cindycake1: I made coconuts out of cupcakes rolled in colored shredded wheat. Looked real!

Marci21175: my dad is a plumber. I made him a toilet-shaped cake he loved it! I also made a cake that liked like a cherry pie

Tha503: person has a hobby you can incorporate into cake too.
Devonpeter: I look at the world around me and think....how can I make this item out of cake and icing!

Cake Wmn: I did a wedding cake carved to represent each of the Hawaiian islands
Devonpeter: I once made a cake for one of my architecture classes that was a floor plan and I ma de a triangle, pencil and erasure out of gumpaste. Drawing the floor plan in icing with a tip 1 was tricky

CCChefPwd: The last time I did the pizza cake the young man nearly cut the table in to. He said it looked so real he thought it was real pizza

CCChefDol: I made a pinball machine cake once for my daughter

SE Cakes: I have a grooms cake coming up where I have to make the Enterprise ship from star track
Icing Wiz: I would like to see enterprise cake
Bakn Beth: I never get orders for grooms cakes, what is the story behind them
Icing Wiz: usually they request or you can ask
Bridal1: Bakn, I think it depends on the area you live in - Groom's cakes aren't real popular here, but I do a few. They are just to recognize the Groom more.  When I cater, I usually set up a special table for the Groom's cake.
SE Cakes: I usually get them after they find out if it fits in  their budget after they order wed. cake
Bakn Beth: Who do you serve them to, I heard you just cut and bag for guests.
Bridal1: Bakn, mine are usually served and they are usually chocolate.
CCChefPwd: Here the most popular cake I am requested to do is the Kaluaha Fudge Cake
Bakn Beth: How would I push them in my meeting with the brides?
CCChefPwd: Decorated like the Groom requests.   It is usually cut and served and eaten before the bride

Cindycake1: I was making irises last week. Had a bear of a time trying to get them to dry. They were
CCChefPwd: I get them with almost every wedding cake order
Cindycake1: made on aluminum foil. I finally froze them, popped them out and dried them for two more days. Anybody have an easier way?
Devonpeter: I dry all my flowers royal, buttercream and gumpaste in dehydrator
Cindycake1: I tried the dehydrator but didn't have much luck.
CCChefPwd: Me to Devon - it sure makes it faster.
Devonpeter: i have a wedding cake for Sat and haven't made flowers yet- will dry in no time. I got mine for 10 dollars at Big Lots- saw it in ad
CCChefPwd: Sometimes I dry lace points or run sugar to.
Bakn Beth: What are they for? Pardon my stupidity.
Icing Wiz: are dehydrators expensive?
Cindycake1: How long do you leave it in for and what setting. Maybe I didn't wait long enough.
Icing Wiz: Is the Kaluaha on your web site PWD

Icing Wiz: I am going to Daytona this weekend for gumpaste class from Mercedes and DOS

CarolA5238: Got a cake idea I'm doing for a grooms cake. 14 " sq, double and 10 " sq on top ,drawing a line down the middle. Half of the cakes camouflage and half water, putting a 1/2 ball in center of 10 " - making it a baseball, putting the crazy shooter on one side and the fisherman man overboard on the other side, then decorating there themes around each item. Wish me luck.
Cake Wmn: Carol why are you drawing the line down the middle of the cake
CCChefDol: Gosh Carol...I'd like to see that one when finished!!!
Bridal1: Good luck Carol.  Sounds like a big feat!!
CarolA5238: I'll besure and get a few pictures made up and send ya some ,

Gigimama: I have the hardest time coming up with men's cakes, if they don't
have a sport or other hobby, any good ideas??
Szyhmkr: don't like change too much
Rli: Gig - you could make one that looks like a computer :)
CCChefDol: Gigi...make a 'couch potato' cake...a couch made out of cake...saw one once
Devonpeter: I once had to do a full sized-to scale computer used 16" squares stacked like a tiered cake
Icing Wiz: I did a swamp buggy for my husband

CCChefDol: Once I had to sculpt a pig with an apple in it's mouth. I made it
the size of a small pig. Sheet cakes - a 7" for the neck and a wonder mold cake for the head. I
airbrushed it until it was a nice 'roasted' pig...I put piping gel on the red apple to
make it shine.
Tha503: I have done several of the remotely active cakes from Wilton's yrbk. It is shaped like a remote control and has a man watching TV most men have this hobby

CCChefDol: Then I designed the OLD bakery Craft shaped computer pan they use to sell too

Devonpeter: I also had to make the keyboard exact-lot of work
CCChefPwd: I had to make a small calculator for TI for their anniversary here.

L2jlu2: Dolores do you sell Butavan what Pwd uses? Called the company but they don't sell out of their state
CCChefDol: no, can't get butavan...its vanilla and butter flavoring isn't it?
CCChefPwd: When my life settles down a little L2 I will try to repackage some so it will be available for you.  Right now that is not priority. That had to be exact proportions to.  I even got a prototype of that special anniversary edition.  One of a kind.

Bakn Beth: How would you suggest freezing icing...In a big container or small?
Bakn Beth: Do you sell buttercream at your store?
CCChefDol: I do...and even cream cheese icing too!...yummy - sealed well in Tupperware.

Bakn Beth: I buy from DAWN and can't store that huge thing in my freezers
CCChefDol: Bakn...we GIVE away buckets...5 gallon...have SO many
Bakn Beth: Could i pay you shipping on them when you give them away?
CCChefDol: sure Bakn...but I bet they don't wash them LOL
CCChefDol: how many would you like? Have SO many each week...maybe 15-20
Bakn Beth: 20 please I have lots of icing....
CCChefDol: Carol...these are 5 gal. size.
CCChefPwd: I recycle those Bakels fondant buckets for the buttercream storage in the fridge.
CCChefDol: We also have small buckets that we package icing in but we would sell those
CarolA5238: I make wishing wells out of m y empty buckets. That would make a grand of a wishing well!
Bakn Beth: Good idea Carol, now I know what to do with these tubs.
CCChefDol: right Carol...nice for putting the cards in at a wed. reception maybe?
CarolA5238: I decorate them different ways with ruffle,
Bakn Beth: How do you want to do this, I live in Indiana Dolores, 5 hours from you.
CCChefDol: charge card number - JUST for the postage

Bridal1: Ooops, I was a little disappointed in the judging last year in OK as they didn't give the ribbons according to their show forms.
Bakn Beth: Ok I didn't know ICES did things around here I thought it was all east and south.
Bridal1: ICES is everywhere!!!
CCChefPwd: I didn't get to go to that one - I was teaching in Michigan
Icing Wiz: INTERNATINAL CAKE EXPLORATION SOCIETY
Icing Wiz: they should have days of sharing there are you an ICES member?
Bakn Beth: You too what, live here, or want to go to the shows?
Bakn Beth: I can order them at ICES web site?
CCChefDol: Bakn...you join ICES. Its only $27.00 per year and you get all the news
Bakn Beth: All I have to do is go to their site and it will say where and when?
CCChefDol: ICES web site: http://www.ices.org - check out the cakes under NEWSLETTERS!
CCChefDol: Bakn...check the ICES newsletter for cake show shedules...or my web site too

Thursday, April 4, 1998 at 9 PM ET in the  Kitchen Conference Room - Cake  Decorating with CCChefDol and  CCChefPwd: "You might be surprised to know some things you can make with buttercream icing.  Basics with buttercream to unusual ideas."