I’ve recently taken up cooking and baking as hobbies. I’ve always been interested in eating, but the intricacies of the perfect dish have always eluded me. I just finished one of Wilton’s cake decorating courses (they are offered at Michael’s stores, and other places as well) and I’m looking forward to delighting my young kids with super cool cakes at the many parties they will have in the future.
One of the most fun parts about a new hobby is the accumulation of gadgetry. In this case, it involved a lot of specialty decorating tips, food colorings, and frosting recipes. There are fondant crimpers and gumpaste flower forms and textured rolling pins, cake pans and decorated cupcake holders and silicon molds. You can go crazy with specialty dogboning tools, or just use a toothpick (but how fun is that?) for creating just the right expression on your sugarpaste Teletubby (don’t ask.)
However, this is my absolute favorite new device, introduced to me by a neighbor who also happens to be a professional pastry chef. The Peter Petrie egg separator is the most effective, efficient way to remove yolks from the egg white without mess or waste. And there is no way to buy one without the gross expression- yes folks, the yolk is retained in the cranial cavity while the gooey egg white neatly oozes out of his nasal sinuses. Appetizing. And of course, I have to have one.
Oh my gosh…I NEED THIS!