Tooling Around

Cake, cookie, cupcake, and candy making is our business at ISAC (what, you guys didn’t know that? HA!!). You may have also noticed we sell a lot of tools to make all those sweet and delicious treats. To the uninitiated, a cake supply store selling floral tape is a bit confusing, but we all know that Chef Nicholas is the all time reigning champ on finding sweet related uses for ordinary everyday products. Because Chef Nicholas is so creative, he sees things like ice cube trays as flower formers. Things we mere mortals would never be able to envision ourselves. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Chef Nicholas pull out a mundane tool or household object, and then do something incredible with… the best part is hearing his students actually OOH and AHH during this mind blowing process.

My favorite example of this was a few years back at our Grand Holiday Open House event. Chef Nicholas had a cake on display that had fondant in the exact same texture as a comfy, cozy thermal shirt. Many people were murmuring that there must be a new texture mat out, because how else could you achieve that look. When Chef Nicholas presented the cake during his demonstration he whipped out a piece of drawer liner. Yes you read that right. DRAWER LINER. He simply pressed it onto the fondant and voila! Instant thermal cake. I mean, come on man!

Now, sweet making, no matter if it’s cake, cookie, cupcakes, or candies, can’t all be made with every day kitchen tools. Well, maybe… but it’s cooler to have a few tools. Power tools. Chef Joseph Cumm was here recently, and he brought some chocolate making tools that he uses regularly. Including quite a few from an orangey hardware store we all know and love. Since he spends quite a bit of time tempering chocolate, Chef Joe has an infrared thermometer; he just points that baby at the chocolate and instantly knows if he is at the precise temperature he needs. Um… I need one of those in my life (and forget cooking. I have two small kids; it would be a million times easier for me to zap them with an infrared laser then to explain to my two year old she needs to keep an awkward thermometer still under her time for 5 minutes). The coolest tool was the rasp! Chef Joseph used it to make chocolate into granite rocks. It was AWESOME! Our favorite chocolatier also brought his air compressor and his industrial airbrush! Like I said, it was like Home Improvement meets Home Ec.

Are these pieces of granite or pieces of chocolate?!

Of course, you can’t beat the tried and true tools of the trade. Sometimes all you need is a stand mixer, rolling pin, and a ball tool. And everyone has a sort of sweet making tool box that works for them. Maybe you like traditional cake decorating tools. I have plenty of those. Maybe you have a mix of traditional and reappropriated tools. Either way, when you are in the business of being creative, you get creative with what you make. I, for one, am really looking forward to our classes with Sidney Galpern on June 2 and 3, 2018. Why? Cause Sidney brings the blow torch! ;)