I have a story in today's Taste section about something I blogged about a while ago: Duff Goldman has a line of cake-baking supplies.
The lead-in to the story will look very familiar to anyone who read the original blog post. (Hey, in this new media age, it's called "re-purposing," not cutting and pasting.)
A couple new things turned up in the course of my reporting for the story.
No. 1. The company that makes the pans, spatulas, fondant smoothers, fondant cutters, spray food coloring and other doohickeys that make extreme cake-baking possible had no background in baking.
It's primarily a stationery company, one that is betting the same design-minded do-it-yourselfers who go for its line of scrapbooking supplies and make-your-own wedding invitations would have an interest in Duff stuff.
As an avid home baker who has zippo artistic skills, I think that's interesting. I imagine attempting a cake with those supplies could be a fun project to do with my kids, but honestly, I'm more into how my cakes taste than how they look. But crafters, even those who aren't bakers, could be really good at this.
No. 2. Some of the stuff is rather expensive, and I just don't mean the anodized aluminum pans, which are an investment. I mean the 2-pound tub of fondant icing, which will cover multiple cakes but will also set you back $24.99. And the cake mixes, which make a single 8- or 9-inch double layer cake and fetch $8.99.
You can see the products, plus some fun videos of Goldman demonstrating basic cake decorating techniques, at Duff.com.