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In the land of cake-decorating there is a whole lot of thinking and pondering and researching going on. But there are two things to keep in mind above all else:
- Have a plan; and
- Have a plan ‘B’.
Throwing Plan ‘A’ out the window
You guys! You would think by now I’d have learned my lesson. More than once I’ve felt like launching a cake out the window out of sheer frustration but today was different.
I had a plan. But today that plan threatened to fall through. And though it could be argued that I sort of/kind of left this part of my plan to the last minute, in my defense, the product I had been banking on had always been available in local stores. So, why, then, would I have any reason to believe that no store within a 500 km radius would carry it??
The culprit? Wilton’s Color Mist Food Color Spray.
Sometimes you get lucky
Before the panic set in, however, I had one last look around my cake-supply-laden shelves and, as though angels themselves had delivered it, I saw the bottle. One lonely bottle of the Wilton miracle spray — in BLUE, no less — saved the day.
You see, I don’t often finish a cake in buttercream unless it’s in ruffles or some sort of piping because the smoothing usually drives me bananas; I usually cover it in fondant. In this case I had planned to have a nice, smooth, white buttercream canvas onto which I would spray on blue sky and green grass and then add the fondant appliqués which I had carefully pre-cut and let ‘cure’.
I figured, no problem, I’ll just run to the store and pick up the spray mist. NBD.
WRONG.
A quick search online (after two failed shopping excursions) and a couple more phone calls later and there’s no more Wilton Color Spray Mist in my corner of Canada, people!
Implementing Plan ‘B’
So while I lucked out on finding the bottle of blue, I still had to figure out the green. So I did what any self-respecting cake-decorator would do: I painted. I diluted Wilton’s Kelly Green gel color with some clear vanilla extract and, with a thick brush — from those brushes reserved only for cake-decorating — I began painting greenery. And you know what? It turned out great!
In cake decorating, you need to be flexible. You must roll with the punches and be prepared for any eventuality. Today, I got lucky, sure, but it proves that, in a pinch, there’s always a plan ‘B’.
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