Where I Shop, Part 2

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A couple of weeks ago, I took you on a fun photo tour ^[2] of Cake Art Party Store (cakeart.com ^[3]) – a great little cake supply place I visit often. But, what I didn’t show you is all the candy making supplies they have. I’ve bought lots of stuff from them to make cake pops ^[4]. Most importantly… candy melts ^[5]. What would I do without these things. They come in 1 lb. bags of dark and milk chocolate as well as tons of colors…

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… and flavors. Did you know these things come in peanut butter ^[7]? They also have some mint flavored ones if you like.

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Now, if the 1 lb. bags aren’t enough for you, then throw a couple of these five pounders over your shoulder. FYI, these are superwhite vanilla coatings, not to be confused with white. Same thing, only brighter. And, if you buy a bunch of white candy melts, then you might even want to try tinting your own. It’s really easy.

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Just add a few drops of this stuff to the melted candy coating and color away. Make sure it says candy color ^[10], though. Regular food coloring contains water and will mess your chocolate up. I mean it.

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100% Cocoa Butter. If I actually knew what I was doing, I would tell you all about how to use this stuff. But, I don’t. The only thing I use cocoa butter on is a sunburn. Besides, it was sitting right next to the candy colors, so I took a picture of it for you.

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Gigantic caramel chunks anyone? I’ve never used these, but they definitely catch my eye every time I walk down the candy aisle to get lollipop sticks ^[13]. Actually, my mouth is stuck together right now just thinking about them.

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Ahhhh, sticks! Thank you. Fat ones, skinny ones, paper ones, wood ones, short ones…

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… and long ones!

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Or if you’re afraid of being stickless… bulk ones.

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Of course, you’ll want something to stick them in to let your cake pops dry. Styrofoam works great.

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These are the medium peanut butter cup molds ^[19] I use to make the Cupcake Bites ^[20]. But, don’t let these limit you…

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Check out the endless variety of candy molds ^[22]. They have them for just about anything. Any occasion, hobby or interest you can think of.

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I’m waiting for when I can use these ^[24].

You can really get creative with the molds. Fill them with solid chocolate or add flavored fillings ^[25].

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Using squeeze bottles ^[27] makes it easier to pour chocolate into the molds.

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And you can use brushes ^[29] to paint on the molds with different layers of colored candy melts.

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These are candy writers ^[31]. They are really handy when you just need a little color and quick.

Just place the tube in a bowl of hot water to melt the candy and it’s ready to use.

They come individually in several different colors.

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Or try out the box set.

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Oils ^[34]. Need some banana cream flavored chocolate? Bubble Gum? Cranberry? How about root beer or mango?

I’ve used the orange flavor before when I made these orange-colored cake pops ^[35]. The oils are super-strength and pack a bigger punch than normal extracts – so, you’ll just need a few drops.

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A lot of people have asked how to make their chocolate thinner. These paramount crystals ^[37] do the trick. Just add a few pieces at a time to the melted candy coating and stir until they completely disappear. But, you can also use regular old shortening.

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Miniature cutters. These are an alternative to the ones I use from Williams-Sonoma to make Cupcake Pops ^[39]. The flower cutter on the left is the one you want. It comes in this Ateco set #4848.

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Cello bags ^[41]. These have a bronze/brown tint and they come in lots of sizes. I usually just use small clear plastic treat bags for the pops, though.

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Look at these. I’ve never really paid much attention to these foil candy wrappers ^[41]. I don’t know why. Probably because there’s just too much stuff to look at in this store. But, I definitely want to try them out soon. I’m thinking turquoise! No purple!

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You could wrap some cake balls in foil and then place them in little candy cups ^[41]. How cute!
Seriously… rock them Roche-Ferrero ^[44] style.

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Or you could place them in truffle boxes. I love boxes ^[41]. Especially little ones.

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More boxes.

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I saved my favorite for last. Americolor edible ink pens. These have made cake pop decorating so much more fun for me. I started out buying these black ones ^[48]. They come as a 2 pack. I’ve used them to draw eyes and smiles for cake pop faces and also on fondant covered cupcakes.

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After buying the black ones over and over, I finally gave in and bought the full set of ten colors ^[50]. The day I took these pictures they were sold out. Gone. MIA. Sorry.

But you’re in luck.

Since then, I’ve been back and snagged a couple of sets.

And I’m putting them up for grabs. Yay! Here’s what they look like.

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Don’t worry. These are mine. I wouldn’t give you opened ones.

Here’s a few examples of how I’ve used them in the past.

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And, here are the new ones I am giving away to two lucky winners.

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• Just leave a comment on this post and let me know how you would try them out. Cake pops? Cupcakes? Sugar cookies? Potato Chips? Whatever.
• Leave your comment with a way for me to contact you if you win (either a blog link or email)
• Deadline to enter is Monday, June 22nd at 6 p.m. (recorded by the time stamp of your comment) TIME’S UP – WINNERS BELOW!
• Two winners will be chosen at random* and announced Monday evening on this post.

Good luck!

* using the Random.org ^[54] integer generator

And the winners are…
Comment #188 – Brittney
Comment #2153 – Jodi
^[55]Yay! I hope you have as much fun with the pens as I have. And I want to see pics of your work!