Does anybody know any good on-line shops for cake decorating items in CH (apart from tortendekor and back-art)? There is really very limited choice on here. I usually order from the US and UK but the shipping costs are killing me. Thanks!

I cannot rate back-art enough having recently used them.

What's your aversion to them as I find the choice and advice great?

At your service - how can I help? (www.back-art.ch here )


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I have never talked about aversion...
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Thanks Crumbs (male or female?): I ordered couple of things from your on-line shop today. Please, can you tell me what's your colored fondant brand and also gel colors brand? I would really like to know before I buy anything what stuff is it (well, I have already ordered... let's see).
I really miss here in CH (at least in Ticino, I don't know other cantons) the basical offer of cake boards, drums, boxes - which in other countries can be just found in supermarkets or department stores. I can buy in bulk, but I make custom cakes and do not make enough of them/month to buy in bulk. It would be nice to have an on-line shop where I can ALWAYS be sure to find anything I need in small quantities (at the moment cake boards and boxes of 30 and 35 cm round - which I use most - are sold out - I think). Here in Ticino I can't find any type of fondant in shops. I make my own rolled fondant and gumpaste, no problem. But I would like to just try other stuff. Sometimes I'd simply prefer to buy some colors that are difficult to achieve (black, red) or have 2 kg 'emergency' packet of white fondant. Here is list of items I'd like to have (maybe not everything at once - the items in bold font I'd really want to have in the recent future). As I said before, to order from abroad can be really pricey, even if prices of individual items are not high at all, the shipping costs are sometimes really exagerated.

¼ inch Foil covered cake boards – round (at least 12 inch), rectangle, square, hear-shaped (8 – 10 inch)
Cake drums ¼ inch round silver, gold, white, black 12, 14, 16 inches (less than CHF 2/pc)
Cake drums rectangle 9 ¾ inch x 13 ¾ inch and bigger (less than CHF 2/pc)
Cake drums 1/2 inch - round, rectangle, square at least 12 inch (less than CHF 9)
Foam core cake boards (round, rectangle, heart)
Cake boxes with and without window 10 x 10 inch and bigger (less than CHF 2/pc)
- For tiered cakes 10 inches and higher
24 and single cupcakes boxes
Half sheet and full sheet cake boxes with and without windows (less than CHF 5)
Cupcake insert trays (standard size, non mini)
Jimmies, sprinkles
Dowels, separator plates – round, rectangle
SPS
Isomalt (colored sticks) – I’ve seen them at JenniferDontz
Silicone veiners – petals and leaves
Clickstix or Tappits (numbers and letters) or any alphabet and number cutters (I have the plastic colored ones – don’t know who makes them, Wilton metal and plastic letter cutters, large metal Migros letter cutters and plastic FMM letter cutters)
Sugarveil products (lacemats, sugarveil icing)
Massa Carma Ticino, SatinIce , PME or Regalice – I would only like to try some of these products, I make my own fondant, but I heard Massa Carma Ticino is the best. But I don’t want to pay CHF 80 for 7 kg bucket!!
Ribbons (cake drums deco)
Gel colors (Chefmaster or Americolor), oil-based colors for chocolate
Edible glycerine (under CHF 2,- bottle) - here I find it rather pricey
Flavourings (mango, pineapple, english toffee, butter, caramel, banana, cherry, blueberry…)
RKTs
Clear and glitter piping gels
Good rectangle, square, hexagon, petal cake pans (Magic Line or similar, not Fat Daddio)
Some nice stencils
Edible sugar gem stones (small ones)
Silicone forms (various buttons, GEM STONES, flower centers), Gemstone-Diamond Silicone Mold
Good cupcake foil liners various colors (apart from gold and silver)
Baby shower and children’s nice cake toppers (low priced – under CHF 5)
Ready-made RI flowers and deco – low priced
Would like to try some fondant transfer sheets
Good choice of stamens (round, oval, pointed, large, long… different colors)
Paper or cotton covered wires (18 – 28 gauge) – white, green, beige
Florist tape different colors
Good edible glue (I really like Jem Cutters’ Jem Petal Glue)
Petal Glaze (Bakery Crafts or similar)
Gelatin veining sheets (less than CHF 5)
Disco Dust, edible glitters, sparkles, glitter flakes (I have some of them, but again - very pricey)
I have seen Teddy Face Border silicone mold which was so cute!
Bead and Brooch silicone molds

Anyway, I will follow your on-line shop, who knows, maybe when some new items will arrive, you can let me know! Thank you a lot!

Thank you for taking the time to post in such detail. Here we go:

1. Crumbs is female.
2. Coloured fondant is straight from the factory in the UK, Renshaw's Regalice.
3. The white fondant is a Swiss product, a Massa Ticino, Massa Bianca. Very good quality, smooth texture, and good taste. (This is what you are looking for when you say Massa Carma Ticino - 500g à CHF 7.50)
4. Cake boards and boxes. I am currently expanding this relatively new section, so please bear with me as this category improves.
5. ALWAYS having everything in stock - this is, unfortunately, not an easy feat. As I also cater to bakeries, professional cake decorators, hotels, restaurants and catering companies, I can never be quite sure who is going to order a lot of one single item. Lead times differ between suppliers, and differ depending on the season. I do everything I can to keep everything in stock at all times, sometimes it's just out of my hands.
6. Cake boards and cake drums: were sold out when I placed my last order with the supplier. Am awaiting the next delivery sometime next week.
7. Cake boxes - and lots more cupcake boxes - are in the photography studio and will be featured online in the next few days.
8. Cupcake insert trays: do not come separately, just with the boxes
9. Jimmies, sprinkles. Will look around for more variety. Don't expect the same choice as in the US, however. There are food colour restrictions in Switzerland and the EU - notably FD&C #3 (E127), a wonderful red pigment which is used for pinks, reds, blues, violets. It's non-toxic, and is used in the coloured covering of a certain brand of iron tablets for pregnant ladies as well as in maraschino cherries. It is not permitted for use in confectionery - make what you will of that
10. Dowels: currently on order. My supplier is to blame No really, usually very efficient and I can count on 2 week lead times - but right now, they're having difficulties. I hate to think what will happen when it's closer to Christmas. Will make sure I get my orders in even earlier.
11. Separator plates: will look into it
12. SPS - again, don't have much demand for this, but will look into it.
13. Isomalt coloured sticks - haven't seen these in Europe yet. I try to avoid buying foodstuffs from the US, due to the different regulations in ingredients. I stock Isomalt - in 250g and 1kg packets. This can very easily be coloured with paste (gel) colours (Sugarflair, UK)
14. Silicone veiners - I have some plastic veiners in stock. There's not much demand. Will look out for silicone veiners, but they're quite pricey.
15. Nice proposal - will look into it for next year.
16. Sugarveil products - ditto
17. Massa Carma Ticino, SatinIce, Regalice - see 2. and 3. (PME does not sell roll-out icing/sugarpaste)
18. Ribbons - won't be stocking these for a while. Your local stationer's will usually have a very large choice of ribbons in stock.
19. Gel colours - are the same as our paste colours. We stock the professional colours from the UK by Sugarflair.
20. Edible glycerine. Wilton's is pricey due to transport costs, but I stock it due to high demand. You can also get glycerine at a chemist at around CHF 6.00 for a 2dl bottle (if I recall correctly). Some of my customers insist, however on the Wilton brand.
21. Flavourings: have a few in stock under "Aroma Pastes" - Peppermint, Lemon, Cappucino, Champain, Vanilla - perhaps I should re-name the category.
22. Clear piping gel and sparkle gels here and 24ct gold piping gel here.
23. Again - it's a demand thing. Will look into expanding the Alan Silverwood range next year.
24. Stencils - will see... not so much demand right now.
25. Sugar gem stones - will look into it.
26. Silicone forms: I have a supplier in mind, will check it out next year.
27. Foil cupcake liners: no source - any ideas (apart from in Australia?)
28. Cake toppers: not part of my range right now, as a lot of these are tacky and badly made. Thinking about it.
29. Ready-made royal icing decorations - especially flowers - don't travel well with Swiss Post. No can do, sorry - well, not until I have my shop on Bahnhofstrasse
20. Stamens. I have a couple, will look around for more.
21. Wires!!! Yes, on order but not available until a month or so. Please be patient.
22. Florist tape: try florist shop or Migros flower department
23. Edible glue: make yourself with CMC
24. Petal Glaze: make your own with crystalline powder and rejuvenator spirit? Works for me.
25. Gelatin veining sheets: will look into it.
26. Glitter ... ingredients. See above. I get what I can.
27./28. If you'd like to e-mail me the link where you saw these, I can look into it.

I do hope I have forgotten anything and that I've been able to help somewhat. Please be advised that I will not be able to sell at prices comparable to UK/US or even a Swiss supermarket chain. You do, however, get friendly, efficient and fast service when you come to me.

So, thank you for your order and support in continuing to build up this business in Switzerland.

Now that's what I call customer service! Wow.

Thanks Crumbs! I’m really happy to find somebody as interested in cake decorating (supplies) as me. Usually people look at me as I’m crazy talking about this stuff. (I am member of CakeCentral Forum and it feels sometimes like heaven to meet people crazy in the same way, that understand…).

As I said in the last post, I live in Ticino, which is really particular, it's a world apart in Switzerland... – there is literally NOTHING of cake decorating stuff and similar available here (I’ve never found florist tape at Migros, the choice of deco ribbons is almost non-existent – apart from blue, grey and violet ugly thin ribbons at supermarkets – sometimes I find something in Italy, but have to travel there…), the choice in general is not comparable to the choice in German-speaking part of CH and there are VERY FEW other smaller specialized shops here. My ex-husband has been working in Zürich for two years and visiting him there I saw really considerable difference of what is available there and here in TI. That’s why I was looking for a good on-line cake decorating supplies shop. I understand the pricing very well. It makes me really sad to pay sometimes 4x - 5x the price of items considered ‘just-always-available-everywhere’ items in other countries. I have also found many Italian manufacturers of e.g. cake boxes with excellent prices but to get anything from them is sooo difficult, not talking about delivery (and I live 5 km from the Italian border…). Yeah, I know – there are some issues (taxes, I’m aware of CH food color restrictions, importing edibles or better – importing anything in general to Switzerland is not easy – I was not allowed to order even non-edible cake decorating items from the UK e-bay…) and the prices in CH HAVE to be higher simply because the living costs (and not only) in general ARE higher than in most of other countries and everybody wants to earn his money. Apart from prices, availability is important and if I know the next month I’ll need x 30 cm round drums and corresponding boxes, x 30 cm boxes for tiered cakes and x 24-pc cupcake boxes (just an example…), I would like to have a place where can I order everything at once without problem. The point of ‘having everything in stock’ was meant only for boards, drums and boxes – sorry, I didn’t attach it clearly to ‘boxes’ point. There are usually sizes that are requested more often than others - I don’t know others, mine for example are 30 – 35 cm round boards and drums and corresponding boxes.

Regarding Carma Massa Ticino (standard and Tropical) I know it’s a Swiss product and it’s almost exclusively exported to the US and Asia (Dubai and Hong-Kong residents don’t have any problem to get it, hmmm). That’s why surprises me that I was not able to find it anywhere easily (being Swiss product) and in less than 7 kg packaging. Then an UK resident tells me that she got 7 kg of CMT for 46 pounds. What?? I live in CH, can’t get it easily and it’s even more pricey?? Uuugh… Where can I get smaller packages?? I hope we are talking about the same thing.

http://www.carma.ch/en/437
http://www.carma.ch/en/438

(For PME fondant I intended brands they sell apart from those named above, sorry…)
Isomalt: I have clear Isomalt but J. Dontz did some advertising saying that her sticks are VERY easy to work with, no need of thermometer, only microwave. I’ve been just curious to see if it’s really more easy to handle. Anyhow, I was planning to order other items from her, so maybe I’ll give it a try.
I’ve seen your plastic veiners (and was quite tempted to order some… :-)) ). I’ve already ordered some silicone ones in the past and you’re right, they ARE pricey but those double-sided are really great.

I own some Sugarflair colors but would be interested in other brands, especially Chefmaster. I’m sick of Wilton-type containers and toothpick method :-( ...squeeze tubes and flacons (Americolor and Chefmaster) seem great and colors are more concentrated. Also less prone to fading.
Foil colored cupcake liners apart from golden and silver: I don’t have any idea who the manufacturer is, I’ve seen them on-line (Global Sugar Art – many colors, Winbeckler’s – only green and black).

Edible glue and Petal glaze: doesn’t work well for me, prefer buying them.

Ready-made RI decorating items: I really do not use them a lot on cakes, only keep them as ‘emergency’ decorating items (were very handy a couple of times….). Some of them are great on cupcakes. Maybe you will be surprised to know I’ve ordered approx. 4500 pcs in total (small items, max. 0,5 cm diameter, mostly flowers, two boxes of 1,5 cm daffodils) from Winbeckler’s and only ONE!!! piece got actually broken. The manufacturer is Kencraft (UT, USA) – made in Guatemala… :-) I ordered only 8 small boxes of various items for the same reason – I absolutely did NOT believe they could survive! They arrived by mail. And the price was wonderful!

For the bear head border mold:
http://www.globalsugarart.com/search...earchimage.y=0
They are SO CUTE!! There are also cupcake top molds and other molds by K. Davies.

For brooches and beads:
http://www.jenniferdontz.com/estore.php?category=molds , also GSA has something.

I’m sorry, as a standard Internet user I can’t get to the manufacturers (without actually seeing the product and the manufacturer’s name on it), only to on-line shops, so I can’t help.

Thanks again for your patience! There are tons of great stuff on-line, it’s so sad not to be able to order a few things one likes… for various reasons. The other point is – creating demand for items with low or inexistent demand: in TI nobody knows fondant covered cakes (even marzipan is not used a lot) and fondant in general – they call them ‘American cakes’… :-)) Nobody knows how fondant tastes but they just KNOW in advance they do NOT like it, they are rather conservative here. I would like to let them know these cakes better and to create a certain demand for them. I hope I can also support this business in CH in this way.

sorry, I intended to e-mail you, but got it pasted here... sooory

@ Panel

I think I went into most of your queries in the first post.

Just to clarify: the white sugarpaste we stock is a Massa Ticino (is also called Massa Bianca) - Carma is just one brand. 500g à CHF 7.50, 1kg à CHF 15.00. Always fresh - always in stock.

I don't stock a "Tropical" massa ticino (yet). Actually, might think about that...

Isomalt: you can melt the Isomalt we have in the microwave too. In fact, it's the best way IMO.

Colours: Sugarflair will remain my main brand. Perhaps I can find other brands types of colours in the future, but I doubt I'll be getting colours from the USA (because of the forbidden Es and also the occasional use of genetically manipulated ingredients - it's just a hassle to find out what's exactly in these products - as well as the transport costs).

As for creating demand... I would try to accept that it's a different culture. The Swiss have their own tradition of nutty, fruity, veggie, chocolate cakes. Try something simple first, before going garishly over the top with a full-blown fondant masterpiece. The first thing the Swiss (generalisation, of course) generally say is how sweet and tacky these type of cakes look. They prefer "taste" to "design".

Feel free to PM if you want; or better still is e-mail via the contact form in the shop or office at back-art.ch. E-mails that go straight to my inbox usually get answered before I log in to EF