My kids love watching Cake Boss, amazed by the decorating team’s many creations. We even made the trip to New Jersey one Easter to visit Carlo’s Bakery and met Buddy Valastro. Recently I had a chance to bring out my inner Cake Boss with the help of Carlo’s Bakery cake decorating expert Gabby Parisi.
Its true those cakes on Cake Boss are pretty incredible. It’s the fondant. It’s a great edible material for getting creative. It can also be intimidating. But at a Canadian Tire event Gabby showed us that getting creative with your baking isn’t as hard as you think when you have the right tools. I’m talking about the new Cake Boss Baking Collection available at Canadian Tire.
I know what you’re thinking; a cookie cutter is a cookie cutter. That’s what I thought but with Gabby’s guidance on how to work with fondant and a hands-on experience with some of the new Cake Boss Baking Collection I found out I can make fancy cakes too.
The Cake Boss Baking Collection is pretty extensive, covering baking tools to gifting ideas. If you’re looking at getting creative in the kitchen I would suggest these 5 Cake Boss Baking Tools I had a chance to try:
Fondant Rolling Pin. This 20-inch rolling pin will smooth out whatever you’re rolling. I love that it’s curved on the end avoiding groves in whatever you are rolling (or maybe that’s just an issue with my rolling pin skills). The size is great for rolling a large piece of fondant to cover a cake too. You can find some fun rollers in the collection that enable you to add a little texture to your fondant, like the Flower and Dots roller or my personal favourite the Swirl roller.
Turntable. I love cake platters and for special occasions I own a few made from Depression glass. This platter is more a decorating tool but it’s nice enough to go from kitchen to table. The locking mechanism makes it easy to swivel the platter around for easy baking (or cutting a slice when serving).
Fondant Smoother. After you’ve rolled your fondant and laid it out on your cake base I found out you can’t just use your hands to smooth out the bubbles unless you want finger impressions in your cake. That’s where this Fondant Smoother comes in handy. A great way to recreate that pressed cake look and so easy.
Circle Cutters. This is one of my favourite pieces from the Cake Boss Baking Collection. Whether you’re creating a cake with balloons or want to make a fondant flower – created by layering circle shapes on each other – you’ll create perfect circles with these cutters and in so many different sizes. I can see using these cutters for regular cookies too. You can also get these cutters in heart shapes.
Ribbon Cutter. This tool has to be my favourite. This kit enables you to cut ribbons of various lengths. Ribbons to make bows, to create a ‘wrapped’ cake, or to just add a decorative trim to your cake. The kit comes with various wheel edges so you can have a straight ribbon or one with waving edges. The best part is the adjustable center disc that enables you to set the width of ribbon you want.
I loved all of these tools and when I brought them home my daughters loved getting creative with them too. We may not create some of the fantasical cakes you see on Cake Boss but the Cake Boss Baking Collection makes getting creative with our own home baking fun and perhaps a little easier.
Of course one of the Cake Boss Cookie Jars will be a nice piece to hide that last slice of cake.
You can find the Cake Boss Baking Collection at Canadian Tire, just in time for a little holiday baking. All I need to do now is find a really good fondant recipe. If you know one that’s worked for you let me know.