Cake decorating stand

[thestinker]

The wife has been making cakes, mainly for us, but occasionally for someone else and sometimes for money. She is really getting good at making and decorating them, and I would like to make her a lazy suzan style cake stand that will make it easier to decorate. I have found the bearings from lee valley, but cant decide what to make the top and bottom out of. I am leaning towards using plastic cutting boards so that when she is done they can just go into the dish washer, but wanted to see if anyone had any better ideas. I've already got a few things for her, this is something I just happen to think of and that she has commented more than once that she wanted or wished she had. My main goal here is functional, durable and cleanable. It doesn't need to be a work of art with exotic wood or put together like a show able cutting board since it will have a cake on top of it only when she is decorating it.

Thanks for the input fellas.
Riley

[Uncle Cracker]

The plastic cutting board idea is a good one. There are round ones available, or you can cut down a rectangular one, if you prefer. There are also round ones made of tempered glass, which might be a more durable option than plastic (unless you drop it...). Might also want an assortment of shapes, unless round is all she does.

[eccentrictinkerer]

LOML has a couple cake decorating stands. They're pretty simple aluminum castings. (LOML is a cookbook writer and editor. How did get so lucky 42 years ago? )

Using a real bearing might create problems. You really don't want the cake to spin easily.

The commercial units just use a peg in a hole. Easy to clean and keeps the cake steady unless you want it to move.

[Larryl]

LOML has a couple cake decorating stands. They're pretty simple aluminum castings. (LOML is a cookbook writer and editor. How did get so lucky 42 years ago? )

Hey me too...(42 years) loml is a Home Economics teacher, how did we manage to fool them for so long?

[cabinetman]

Corian or solid surface material might work out well. You might check with cabinet shops or counter top specialists for their scraps, like sink cutouts. You might get some free, or for cost.
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[JimDantin]

You might consider that designing and building a cake decorating turntable is similar to designing and building a workbench! The commercially-available ones are either excellent old designs and expensive, or cute, innovative junk!

Do some research into what the pros use, and what they have stuck with over the years. Like workbenches, good decorating tools don't show up on Home Shopping Network. This is an area where "form follows function" Stable and heavy base, lightweight but strong removable top -- and it can't, under any circumstances, break and ruin the cake!

I have watched my wife and others decorate cakes -- I'm an eater, not a builder here! Stability, control, and easy cleaning are key features here. Look at the Ateco model 612 - it seems to be the moderate price standard. Then look at this one http://www.galasource.com/matfer-bou...501-31673.aspx to try to figure out why it sells for over $225! Seems to be the Lie-Nielsen of cake decorating!

Any commercial kitchen supply stores in your area? Go shopping and take notes!

[thestinker]

Thanks for all the input fellas. Sounds like this might take a tad mre research than I thouht about. I believe you are right about the ball barings making it too easy to turn. Also, I'm thinking several different sizes might be nice and something to weigh the base down. This might turn into an aniversiary gift insead of Christmas.

Thanks for all the advice fellas.
Riley

[Tom Slick]

I think a sheet of polyethylene (cutting board material) would have a decent friction factor against the base, and be dishwasher safe.

I wasn't so lucky, my wife is a math teacher so she's really good at setting the microwave for frozen dinners.