baker's paradise

lucky (or not, depending on how you look at it) for me, i live very close to a fantastic superstore called a&j cake and candy supply. they carry everything you can think of and more for creating some fabulous sweets.

and before you ask, no, i'm not getting paid to plug this joint. i just happened to get hit with a crazy craving for some sea salt caramels, and i decided that i wanted to try using a candy mold rather than pouring them into a pan and cutting them into squares. i'm just wacky like that. and this is the best place i know of to sashay in, have a ridiculously huge selection of shapes, and not leave with a ginormous hole in the ol' checkbook.

i thought this was kind of cute, although after a little thought, what the hell would you do with a candy scoop made of chocolate? that shit would melt faster than you could use it.

i'm always enthralled by this wall o'sprinkles in every color and shape, right when i walk in.

there are boxes for candy, caramel apples, cake, cupcakes...

kind of like magazines and candy at the grocery store, they put this display of adorable little handmade edible decorations right at the cashier's counter.

animal print cupcake papers! they actually don't have a whole lot to pick from, but these were my favorites.

there's also only one sad little wall of cookie cutters. i did think the onesie set was super cute, though. i filed that way in the mental filing cabinet for the next time i've got a baby shower to plan.

lollipop sticks in several lengths, plus sticks to make your own coffee chocolate spoon thingies and special rice krispy treat sticks. no idea as to what their advantage is over regular old popsicle sticks, but whatever.

want to put some burgers and weenies on your cupcakes? sure, why not?

all the premade fondant you could ever want.

i was kicking myself for not thinking of this place when looking for a pink "2" candle for the bean's bash last month. bleh.

you know, american idol starts up again in january.

look! for $4.95, you can create your very own customized hello kitty cake. ah, how i love hello kitty. actually, you'll get to hear a whole lot more about my lifelong obsession with hello kitty in a post later this week. heh.

and on that customized cake, you can express any sentiment with this wide variety of writing gels. imagine the possibilities: "happy fucking birthday, foo!" "i love you so much i made this stupid cake from scratch," or perhaps "this cake contains a shitload of calories, but who cares?"

there were all sorts of flavors of fillings too, packed in disposable decorating bags and all ready to go. i briefly considered buying one of these, cutting off the tip, and squirting the goo right into my mouth. might as well just eliminate the middleman.

there were bags and bags of candy cups in solid colors, festive prints, and different shapes and sizes.

all the cake boards you could ever want.

there were so many little caketop decorations, i couldn't focus on any of them. kind of like how i feel about places like dsw shoe warehouse - sometimes, there actually can be too much of a good thing.

this is also my source for candy melts - dark, milk, and white chocolate, available in all sorts of colors. i used to rely on the wilton melts you can easily find at michael's or other craft stores, but these seem to taste better and the colors are much prettier and brighter.

and this concludes our tour of my local cake and candy supply store. i got a few weird looks as i strolled around, snapping photos with my iPhone, but you know i don't really give a crap. and the lady behind the counter didn't even notice. i would have just told her the truth, anyway, if she'd asked - that i dug her store and wanted to blog about it. i've done that before, and i never hear any objections after that. the best advertisement is the kind you don't pay for, right?

well, as long as it's positive. heh. "yeah, i'm taking pictures for my blog because you suck and i want to tell everyone i know to stay away!" that would be awesome. i can just imagine the reaction i'd get to that. ha!