I’ve been on this baking adventure for quite a number of years now and let me tell you, it was never easy. Although I make it look fun and exciting (which it totally is!), it is challenging at times especially at the beginning when I first started to look for ingredients and supplies at affordable prices. I remember wishing for a one-stop shop where I could find everything I wanted (pans, colours, tools, fondant… ) without putting effort into the search. Many hours were spent looking around the net, reading cake blogs and eventually finding a website that had EVERYTHING I wanted and more! After piling up my virtual shopping cart with the essentials (and non-essentials like things that were pink/shiny or both) and entering my shipping information I realized that WHAT?! They don’t ship to Canada. WHY!?! Canada is a country and I’m sure there are tons of bakers here. As I looked at my cart full of goodies, all the stuff I planned to use and all the things I’ve imagined creating in my head already… I asked, “WHY DON’T YOU DELIVER?”… and I clicked “close browser”. SNIFF. Have you ever been in this situation before?
I thought I discovered GOLD when I found the baking aisle at Michael’s. They have EVERYTHING there! Piping tips, spatulas, baking cups in every size and colour/pattern, cookie cutters, candy-making supplies, boxes, cake plates, turntables, fondant, impression mats, dowel rods, cupcake carriers, alphabet cutters, specialty character pans, food colours, cake levelers, measuring cups, cake wires, sprinkles, colour mist and the list goes on and on (I could fill this whole space up if I wanted to
) I was in BAKER’S HEAVEN. Then I realized everything was WILTON. Wilton was the king of that aisle and for any advanced baker, that was a problem.
As I started researching more online, I found that a lot of lesser-known baking supply companies exist AND they’re cheaper. I love Wilton still, don’t get me wrong… there’s just so much more out there than Wilton products. I want to say that to people when I see them at Michaels’ baking aisle… ha… but I won’t (don’t want to be banned).
I received my AMERICOLORS in the mail this week and I’m excited to use them tonight. They’re slightly cheaper than Wilton colours and they have much more of a selection. Check out their website – AmeriColors. I got ONE so far in “deep pink” so if PINK approves, then I will get the whole set of soft gels and the airbrush colours as well.
In conclusion, there’s more to life than Wilton
**UPDATE**
I found several pros/cons with using AmeriColors. Firstly, it is cheaper (point for A). It is in a tiny squeeze bottle with a tiny hole (so you can adjust the intensity of the colour by counting each drop) whereas Wilton’s gels are in a little container and almost always spills in my color box (point for A). It is a little taller than Wilton and barely fits in my box so I’ll give them a half point. On the lid there’s a tiny coloured circle sticker so I don’t have to lift it up to see the colour in the bottle (you get two points here). CON – it is only .75oz whereas Wilton is 1oz (BIG difference since I go through colours really quickly… point for W). AmeriColors are not available anywhere except online and maybe in the States or in Mississauga which feels as far as the States cause I hate driving highway and if I buy them online, I have to pay for shipping (minus three… let’s say minus two since I do save on gas, a little). If I buy them online, they come to my doorstep and all I have to do is open the door to receive them (+1), but the Purolator guy comes so dang early in the morning that I’m still asleep (-1) and then I receive a notice on my door to pick it up at the post office (-1). If I purchase Wilton gels, I get 40% off with my Michael’s coupon (+1 for W) and sometimes at 50% when they have sales (+2). I can get them in a set for (at its cheapest) $10 (+1) with lots of colours (+1) but it doesn’t matter because they make such a mess in my colour box and the gels STAIN my clean box and it’s so hard to clean it up (-500).
You can do the math
