Buttercream Base

Why use buttercream base? Satin Fine Foods recommends it for the versatility. Just adjust the amount of liquid added for soft, medium or stiff consistencies.
 
Choose a butter or shortening to suit taste, texture or dietary needs.
 
Then create custom flavors by mixing in chocolate, peanut butter, cream cheese or fruit purée.
 
For creative colors, you can easily mix a rainbow of color options with your favorite gel colors.
 
Vanilla buttercream base is made using three easy ingredients in three easy steps:
  1. Mix 2 pounds of base to knead/soften.
  2. Add in 4 ounces of softened butter, 1 ounce at a time.
  3. Add 3 tablespoons of cool water and mix until blended.

Jewelry-Inspired Appliques

Internationally renowned cake designer Maggie Austin returns to her alma mater, The French Pastry School in Chicago, for a unique and exclusive professional course scheduled for Oct. 21-24. 

Austin loves exploring new decorating media and her delicate layered appliques combine wafer paper with fondant and gumpaste to bring couture sparkle to your cake design. 
 
Then, taking cues from the latest trends in floral artistry, she breaks from conventional sugar flower placement. Adorn your creation with loose, organic arrangements of gumpaste flowers, leaves, and berries.

The Art of the $7 Cupcake

Speaking at IBIE on “The Art of the $7 Cupcake,” Janelle Copeland, former winner of Food Network’s Cake Wars and Cupcake Wars, spoke about how to make products that customers can’t help but share on social media. The owner of The Cake Mamas in Glendora, California, with nearly 60,000 Instagram followers, shared her expertise on how to grow a fan base. To create a “$7 cupcake,” Copeland advised, bakeries need to grow their relevancy through five areas: access, price, product, service and experience.

Access: Many of your bakery’s potential customers are on Instagram and Pinterest. Focus on those when posting your products on social media. Make your products more accessible to customers, and they’ll find you more easily.
 
Price: Pricing is a marketing tool, not just a way to make money. By creating a “status hierarchy” with your prices, you create social prestige.
 
Product: Shareability is the currency of social media, so bakery owners should ask themselves, “Why would people share our products on social media?”
 
Service: This speaks for itself. Amazing customer service attracts customers.
 
Experience: This goes hand-in-hand with service. Your bakery is not just marketing its products, it’s marketing itself.