Cake Supplies

I spent a lot at Michaels before the Princess Cake.  I'm considering it an investment, with all the cakes I'm going to be making this year.  I also picked up other stuff for planned projects.  Michaels isn't super far, but I rarely go in that direction, so it feels like an expedition.

Most of the items were on my list, like cake pan bands.  I'd never heard of them before, but the science behind them is sound.  You put a cold, damp piece of cloth around the outside of the cake pan so the outside edges of the cake don't bake faster than the inside.  It produces a flatter cake, and you don't have to trim off the outside "crust".  It's the same concept as placing a baked custard in a pan of water before placing it in the oven.  I don't know if it made the Princess Cake any flatter, but it made a difference around the rims.

Not on the list was gel food colors, but when I saw them I realized that my box is about two decades old. Yep, don't make cakes much.  I bought them and tossed the old ones.  I do need to buy drops for a different project, but these will take me through most cakes.

I really didn't want to buy a fondant roller.  Unitasker.  However, fondant will pick up the pattern of a wood rolling pin.  I already have to scrub my counter and use that for rolling because all of my boards have some kind of texture.  I got the smallest and cheapest they had.  There were tons of cool fondant shaping and patterning gadgets.  Most were food-safe versions of what you use on modeling clay.  I'm only buying those if something requires it.  I'm not buying a "fondant cutter".  Seriously?  Knife or pizza cutter.  Flower pattern cutouts...I'm going to avoid fondant flowers if at all possible.

I did find out that some of the pans I might need to get for my cousin's cake are cheaper there than at the cake supply store I went to the day before.  That's good, so I can order them online and get them shipped to Virginia.  There may even be coupons.