Gift Guides

Posted by Khris in DIY Guides

Hi DIYers,

As DIY Bride begins to include all aspects planning a do-it-yourself wedding, we’ll be introducing new features in the coming days and weeks. The first new feature is a regular column of gift-giving guides.

“What gifts” you say? Most couples give their maids and men a gift for being in the wedding party. Moms and dads often get a token of thanks. Clergy, vendors who go above and beyond, special helpers, ceremony readers, ushers, ring bearers, and flower girls are also others who traditionally may receive gifts. Brides and grooms also sometimes exchange gifties pre-ceremony. I know Jason and I were caught off guard when we discovered all of these wedding extras were customary and/or expected – and we didn’t budget for them. So, you know, heads up! Save some room in your budget for this stuff and let us offer some inspiration for nifty ideas for all budget ranges.

The Gift Guides are collections of products that are perfect for wedding-related gifting. DIY Bride is proud to showcase handmade products from small and indie designers as part of our roundup of ideas.

If you’re a vendor who’d like to be considered for inclusion in our gift guides, we’d love to hear from you! Please use the contact form to tell us about your product and why you think your wares are a great gift idea.

Cake Month Extended + Recap

Posted by Khris in DIY Guides, Food + Catering

Hey DIYers,

I’m extending Cake Month through the entire month of June. There’s just too how-to, resources, reviews, reader questions, and other confectionery goodness that I’m not able to squeeze into the remaining days of May.

For those of you who’re just hearing about Cake Month, we’re dedicating an entire  month to do-it-yourself wedding cakes, cookies, and candy.

Here’s what we’ve covered so far:

• Is a DIY cake for you? Things to consider.
• Getting started: the first steps to cakey nirvana.
• How to figure out appropriate cake size/number of slices for your wedding.
• Where to find cake decorating classes.
• Which is better: boxed mixes or scratch recipes?
• Fondant taste test: no, they’re not all the same.

Some of the awesomeness coming up: DIY cake and cupcake stands, icing basics, best baking books, cookie, cake, and candy how-to, best recipes, knock out techniques, cool decorations, hundreds of resources… and much more!

If you’d like to follow Cake Month-Only posts in your favorite RSS Reader (we love http://www.google.com/reader), our Cake Month feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DiyBrideCakeMonth .

DIY Cake Month: Finding Cake Decorating Classes

Posted by Khris in DIY Guides, Food + Catering

Later in this series I’ll be recommending a few wedding cake books. Surprisingly, there are very few that are worth the money for beginning-intermediate home bakers. The best way to learn cake decorating techniques, in my estimation, is from good old hands-on experience. There’s simply no substitution for wrestling with real fondant or getting your fingers stained with freshly mixed colored gum paste. Having an experienced instructor is also a huge bonus to guide you through real-time dilemmas and to lend the helping hand of someone who’s “been there”.

You’ll find that most major cities and metro areas have ongoing decorating classes. They’re usually offered by:

• Michael’s Craft Stores. They’ve teamed up with Wilton (the leading consumer cake decorating company) to offer classes in many (if not most) Michael’s stores. I know my local Michael’s offers a discount on Wilton supplies if you sign up for their classes, which is a nice bonus. These classes are taught by Wilton-approved/trained instructors. (Wilton has their own curriculum and decorating techniques that each certified instructor must master.)
• Independent Cake Decorating Supply Shops. If your town is lucky enough to have a local cake decor supply, do ask if they offer classes. This is a great way to support local businesses and to be exposed to different supplies and techniques than you’d find at Michael’s. Like just about anything, the quality of cake supplies varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. I think it’s important to try out different ones.
• Community College/Adult Education. Some community colleges and adult education programs offer cake decorating classes. {Community Colleges by State}
• Culinary Schools. Some culinary schools/institutes offer pastry/cake decorating classes to non-culinary students. You’ll be taught by industry professionals, which could be very challenging (and fun!). {List of Culinary Schools}
• Private Individuals. Check out Craigslist or other community boards for individuals who teach cake decorating. My impression is that most are Wilton-trained.

Evaluating Classes

When evaluating classes, there are some important things to take into consideration:

1. What’s the teacher’s background? What training does she have? What’s her professional experience? How long has she been teaching?
2. Does the class require any pre-requisites?
3. Is there baking involved or is it just decorating?
4. How much hands-on time in each class student have?
5. What techniques are being taught?
6. How many projects are due in the course?
7. What’s the total supply cost for the class/course?
8. Must the supplies be from a certain manufacturer or from the store you’re taking the class in?
9. Check out the teacher’s portfolio. I highly recommend this because I’ve seen some reeaaaaally outdated styles being taught in some classes. (Lighted fountains and tiny plastic stairs, anyone?)
10. What’s the cancellation/missed class/refund policy? What happens if you miss a class or if you have to drop out?

Cake Month: Boxed Mix or Scratch Recipe?

Posted by Khris in DIY Guides, Food + Catering

One of the most important decisions you’ll make about your DIY cake, and one that tortures many a would-be DIY cake maker, is what kind of cake to make. In a later post we’ll go through flavor and filling options but this one’s devoted to the boxed mix or scratch dilemma.

There are few debates as heated in the cake world as the use of boxed mix versus scratch cakes. While I am a strong advocate of the latter, I do want to give a fair look at both sides to help you discover which option is best for your needs.

Box Mix Pros:

• Convenient, pre-mixed packages mean little measuring and no guesswork with ingredients yielding a pretty consistent result from cake-to-cake.
• Packages can be purchased way ahead of time and stored until needed.
• Box mixes are inexpensive, especially when purchased on sale.
• Most people are very familiar with box mix flavors and have fond associations of those kinds of cakes (reminds them of childhood, for example).

Box Mix Cons:

• Limited flavor, texture, and “weight” options.
• Box mixes use a lot of chemicals for stabilization and preservation.
• Some mixes have a chemical taste to them.
• You’ll need to buy a lot of boxes to feed your wedding guests; it’s harder to scale to feed large groups.
• Box mixes are not always less expensive than baking from scratch.

Pros of Scratch Mixes:

• Unlimited flavor options. If you can dream it, there’s likely a perfect cake flavor waiting for you to discover it.
• You control the ingredients and can add to or modify recipes to suit your needs. Wheat allergies? Vegan? Organic ingredients only? Carrot cake without nuts? No trans fats? Diabetic options? No problem!
• Freshness. Made-from-scratch cakes don’t need chemical stabilizers or preservatives. (Take a look at the ingredients on a box mix cake.)
• Scratch recipes often yield cakes with more body and substance – better for wedding cakes.
• Pride. There’s definitely a satisfaction that one gets from making something that takes creativity, patience and skill that can’t be experienced with shortcuts.

Cons of Scratch Mixes:

• Baking from scratch requires measuring ingredients accurately.
• Some argue that scratch mixes are faster; over at The Kitchn, they they proved that wrong.
• Baking from scratch doesn’t yield standardized results.
• Depending on your ingredients, scratch cakes can be more expensive to produce.
• Scaling recipes up or down is easier than with a box mix.

As for cake mix being less expensive than scratch, you may be surprised at what we found in the DIY Bride Test Kitchen. That’s another post, though.

My best advice is for you to do a taste and bake test with scratch cakes and box cakes to find the ones that fit the taste, texture, and budget that you’re aiming for. (Check back for the DIY Bride Test Kitchen results.)

Remember: a wedding cake needs to taste great, no matter how clever or fancy it looks.

Cake Month: Fondant Taste-o-Rama

Posted by Khris in DIY Guides, Food + Catering

Throughout the month of May, we’re discussing all DIY cake-related matters. Join us for how-to, tips, and inspiration.

Some  of the most common cake-related questions are related to a popular cake icing called rolled fondant. (Most just call it fondant, though there are different kinds. More on that in a later post.) For those of you not yet in the know, rolled fondant is a thick, somewhat stretchy and slightly chewy sheet of icing that produces a smooth surface on a cake. {Check out the gorgeous fondant design by the outrageously talented April Reed.}

In certain cake eating circles, fondant is a dirty word. There are some who will turn up their noses at the mere mention of the “f word”. See, they think it tastes icky. And, unfortunately, their experience with it was probably not that great. Not all fondant has a yuck factor, my friends, as not all pre-made fondants are the same.

We at the DIY Bride Test Kitchen (well, ok, just me at my kitchen counter) decided to do a taste test among the most popular fondant brands.

The contenders, in no particular order:

• Wilton Pure White Rolled Fondant
• Fondarific Buttercream Flavor
• Satin Ice Vanilla Flavor
• Fondx Virgin White

The methodology: cut off a hunk of fondant, eat it, review it, rate it. Real scientific!

The Results

#1 : Fondarific. Of the 4 fondants tasted, Fondarific had the best flavor and texture. Sweet and creamy with melt-in-your mouth consistency, Fondarific, was by far the tastiest and gets the highest recommendation. No cloying aftertaste, ingredients taste fresh, no chemical smell or flavors detected.

#2 : Satin Ice. Many, many cake pros use Satin Ice as their fondant of choice. The SI sample was very mellow in flavor and had a very pleasant consistency. It wasn’t as flavorful or as smooth as Fondarific but it was still very good.

#3 : Fondx: I had a hard time choosing between Satin Ice and Fondx for the #2. Fondx lost out my just the tiniest margin because I thought the more mellow flavor of SI would compliment more cake flavors. That’s not to say that Fondx has a strong flavor at all, it’s just more flavorful than SI. If I were to make  fondant cake today, I’d be torn between Fondx and Fondarific. They’re pretty similar in consistency and texture, both are quite tasty.

#4 : Wilton: This was by leaps and bounds my least favorite fondant of the bunch. Slightly grainy with a chemical aftertaste, Wilton’s fondant was just nasty compared to the others in the bunch. I have to admit that I used Wilton fondant for a project in my upcoming book (cue shameless self-promotion) The Crafty Countdown and it was perfect for non-edible decoration. {Peep a sneak peek at the Owl Cake Topper.}

More Details

1. Wilton is the most widely-available fondant. You can pick it up at craft stores like Michael’s (and Michael’s often offers Wilton cake decorating classes).
2. The price breakdown (please note that most fondants get cheaper when you buy in bulk – over 5 lbs.) Prices below are approximate. Search around for the best deals.

• Satin Ice, $6.49 for 2 lb. ($3.50 per pound)
• Wilton, $6.79 for 1.5 lb. ($4.52 per pound)
• Fondarific, $11.79 for 2 lb. ($5.89 per pound)
• Fondx, $33.00 for 10 lb. ($3.30 per pound)