Early on in running the business, I discovered just how much I did not enjoy piping messages on cakes. The pressure of getting the text accurately piped onto your perfect cake, knowing that a slight mistake could ruin all your hard work, has always caused me an irrational amount of angst!
Early on, I tried different technological solutions for this. First, I tried stencils. That sort of worked, but it’s hard to get a neat finish, and it only works on some toppings and icings.
Employing people who were better than me at it works well, but staff come and go. I once had to make 100 sugar paste alstroemeria flowers for a cake because the staff member who had the skills to do it left to have a baby, between taking the order and the cake being delivered. Absolutely no thank you to alstroemeria sugar paste flowers.
So, I've been searching for technological solutions.
Next, I tried building a CNC engraving machine to carve text into fondant or meringue. That used a tiny drill bit and worked for meringue but not fondant. The meringue was so delicate that it usually didn’t make it onto a cake. However, that experience taught me a lot about design and coding machines to move in 2D and 3D.
About a year ago, we bought a laser cutter. That's taken a lot (I mean an awful lot) of work to figure out how to use it. I've learned as much about repairing laser cutters as I have about patisserie in recent months. However, we have finally figured out how to laser engrave fondant message plaques and, more recently, chocolate… more on that to follow.
As a fun thing to try this week, I tried engraving puff pastry. The picture is of a Galette des Rois engraved with a ChatGPT design. It worked incredibly well. It's probably something better used on shortcrust or pie pastries, as the design keeps its shape better. The puff of the puff pastry slightly lost the design during baking.
Anyway learning new things is fun and one of the joys of running a business like this. We'll be using it for a few bits and pieces in the coming months.
Next week, how to use a bandsaw to cut your brownies....
Tim Jan 2025
