Ready for an honest review on the Cricut Cake Machine?
I’ve been thinking about writing a review for a while, so I just decided to go ahead and write a quick post about the Cricut Cake for fellow scrappers who might be wondering what I think of it!
How well does the Cricut Cake do for a Die-Hard Paper Crafter?
Well, I honestly have a mixed opinion about it.
I think its a great machine – for cake decorators – but scrappers, BEWARE!Ā Just because you might be a Cricut Expression Master doesn’t mean your first attempts with the Cricut Cake will get you on the next episode of Cake Boss! š
After spending some time playing around with the Cricut Cake, I’ve noticed that the machine itself works exactly like a Cricut Expression. Cutting edible material, however, is a completely different story! š
–So, just because someone knows how to use Paper and other paper crafting materials in a Cricut Expression to create gorgeous scrapbook layouts and cards, etc… Does NOT mean that the mediums you use in the Cricut Cake are even close to similar.
Don’t get me wrong I think the Cake is really cool and its fun to cut out pie crusts and VERY thin Sugar Cookies, but its NOT something you can just set up and start decorating.
Working with the Cricut Cake takes some serious finesse!Ā If you are already a cake decorator and are very familiar with working with Cake fondant, gum-pastes, icings, etc… then you may not have much of a problem at all, other than just getting down a few of the machine basics.
On the same token, I feel like I can say, someone who is a serious cake decorator or baker, probably would run into similar struggles using the Cricut Expression with paper.Ā If you’ve never cut paper before, aren’t familiar with different paper depths, settings, etc… the Cake Master probably would be ready to throw the Cricut Expression out the WINDOW with paper tearings or frustrations.
As a paper crafter, even when I get a tear or missed cut in my paper time to time, I’m ok with that.Ā To ME its just part of the nature of the thing I love and enjoy.Ā On the other hand, sitting down with the Cricut Cake and thinking I’m going to be able to decorate my child’s birthday cake with as much ease and enjoyment was not the case for me.
However, I can again attest, my good friend, who I feel is very talented cake decorator, used the Cricut Cake.Ā And while it took her a little time to figure out which worked best fondant/gum-paste/size/thickness, she decorated a birthday cake BEAUTIFULLY for her Father-In-Laws Birthday!
Are you seeing my point?
Cricut Cake – great for the experienced baker/decorator.Ā But I’ll say it again, Paper Crafters Beware – its a whole other beast when you’re used to working with paper!
There ya have it!Ā I hope that this little “review” of sorts will help at least one person! šĀ I hope to be doing a few how-to’s with my best girl showing the Cricut Cake in the near future, but in the meantime….
Have a GREAT Weekend!
***SIDE NOTE TO COMMENTS BELOW***
I decided to add in a quick thought and side note here about comments I saw below….
While it IS True you CAN cut the gumpaste/fondant in your regular Cricut Expression WHEN you remove the Roller Guides on the roller bar… I do NOT Recommend doing this.Ā Especially if you already used your Cricut Expression for Paper Crafting.Ā Its not a good idea to mix food that you will eat with adhesive that you stick to your paper, and whenever you use the Cricut Expression for paper cutting with the original mat that is what you are doing.Ā So technically speaking, you should buy a separate Cricut Expression for food and one for paper.Ā Makes more sense to buy the Cricut Cake, because its designed for Food Grade with specific parts.Ā Just for what it’s worth, this furthers the review slightly, and may help a few of you understand a little more!
I Was Told You Could Do The SameThing With A Cricut Expression, The Cricut Cake Is Not Needed.
Is This True, Can We All Just Save Areself Some Money?
The Expressions is made totally different than the cake. I have both. The blades are different and so are the rollers. You cannot cut gum paste or fondant on an Expressions (besides if can handle the softness, it is totally unsanitary. I invested in both and am not sorry I did. You can use the same cartridges in both, which is money saving. If you really want to work with cakes, save your money and buy an Cricut Cake.
I have a background in cake decorating, as well as paper crafting, and I most definitely won’t be spending my money on the Cricut Cake. I too have heard that you can cut thin fondant and such on the Expression š Thanks for the great review Megan!
you can sue the expressions to cut fondant and gum paste BUT if you have already used the expressions on paper you CAN NOT use it for fondant and gum paste, it’s cross contamination.
Thanks for the opinion and review! I’ve heard mixed reviews and I think it ties to your point exactly. I think many assumed they could pick it up and use it as their paper machine and go from there and that’s not the case. I will be getting one since I don’t want food matieral in my paper cricut. I’m starting a not-for-profit that will provide birthday cakes to disadvantaged children (once I get my jewelry business going) and this machine will be great. Thanks for your perspective! Have a great weekend!
My experience has been much easier learning to decorate with the Cricut Cake than it was learning the Cricut Expression. I am far from producing professional wedding cakes but the cakes I made so far have been a BIG hit. I make my own marshmallow fondant in addition to using Wilton’s Color fondant and have had no problems at all. I just love the Cake in addition to being able to use all my carts with it.
I have many loves -paper crafting, baking, and sewing are just a few. I would love to justify a cricut cake so that I could produce a beautiful product, but I love home made things and somehow fondant is more the flair of store bought stuff. Does anyone else feel that way. I love to back cookies and I was thinking that you could make them in such cute thin shapes and then layer them so that they were the thickness of a regular cookie. Cutting out pie crusts however, does sound like it could be fun and produce some beautiful end results. I still plan on getting one before the holidays. worst case, you end up with another paper cutting cricut.
Thanks for the updates on the cricut cake machine. I will stick to my cricut expression which I love dearly.
Happy fourth of July to you and your family.
vswaddy620@yahoo.com
i have been told the same thing-it is two different mediums so therefore different techiniques are neede to be learnt. like doing papercrafting and polymer clay for example. i have also been told that using the paper cricut to cut food products isn’t safe, as the one for paper can leave paper residue on the food you cut. at cake demo we saw, the gal also cut flowers out of cheese and ham and put on toothpicks-so cute. anita
Lets see how Carlos Bakery (Cake Boss) works with the Cricit Cake. I think that would make a good program and lots of laughs. And good publicity for the Cricut Cake. What do you others think?
Thanks for the great review…I had a feeling that was going to be the case which is why I put off buying it. I don’t make enough fancy cakes and cookies to justify this purchase so I think I’ll just be happy with my Expression! Thanks again! : )
i have be going back and forth about the cricut cake (my girlfriend is letting me borrow her’s) i just cant justify buying one. my kids are all teenagers now and really, how much cheese, pie crust, and ham am i really going to be cutting. who knows though in a moment of weakness i may just be buying myself one.
Hi, I was a little suprised with this review of the Cricut Cake. I am not a cake decorator and I was able to use this machine to cut out butterflies for a cake I made for my sisters birthday the first time with really no problem. I will say that this machine has inspired me in a whole new way with baking and I love it. I have taken two courses in cake decorating since I purchased this machine so I may better understand the matierals I am using because I am (OCD) like that and need to know the ends and outs of things. There is a rolling pin out there in the baking section at your local Joann’s store it is white and has two round color coded rings that will help you roll out the fondant or gume paste to the thickness you will need for your sheets. This thing comes in two sizes a smaller one and a REALLY BIG one. This machine has opened new doors for me in the baking world. Right now I am trying new things with cupcakes, cakes, and cookies mostly for family and friends. And No I don’t use it as much as I use my Cricut Expression. Ladies please don’t use your Expression for cutting food product that your family or friends might EAT!! for one that is just GROSS! The Cricut Cake is food grade and made for FOOD products the Expression is NOT. I know this machine is expensive, but for the ladies who might like to try it I would say Go For It! It really helps in a pinch when you need some assistance with decorating when the sprinkles just won’t do. š It really helps to justify the cost when you are able to use all of the cartridges for this machine as well. I enjoy mine and are learing new ways to use it. If you already have one go out and find that rolling pin it will take the guess work out of the thickness for you and possibly some frustration. Also I really like the Cricut gum paste this one is best to use when you want a decoration to stand out and dry the fondant is a little bit heavier for small cuts. You can purchase both fondant and gum paste in a tube or a box at your local craft store. As for taste I like the Cricut gum paste it has a light sweet taste and also DUFF from the ACE of Cakes has a whole line of products and his fondant in a tube is a great product. For my fav shows I love the ACE Of CAKES and CUPCAKE WARS. Happy Crafting everyone!!
Hi gals, I wanted to say in my last post I meant tubs not tubes sorry for that. I guess I was speed typing because when I get excited about something I just ramble on and on I was trying to keep it short. Didn’t do so well in that department either. š Have a great and safe 4th of July!!!
I agree with Dianna Bell, I would love to see that on Cake Boss.I would just like to get the cake decorating cart to ues for my LO I’m not a cake person.
I would love to have a cake for cutting fancy crackers, but I’m more likely to spend money on paper-crafting materials lol. That said, I’d really love to get my hands on the Basic Cake cartridge for scrapping and card-making!!
I’m thinking that as you get more experience, you’ll be making birthday parties that will a-maze (co-ordinating cakes, party games, decorations, hats, etc) : D
I received an e-mail from Michaels that you could get the Cake for $100 off now. I have a link on my blog on the right of the page for a blog that supplies coupons for Michaels. You could use them for other supplies for decorating.
I don’t bake a lot of cakes or cupcakes and I don’t have time to practice traditional cake or cupcake decorating, which is sad, because I have all kinds of tools and tips for different frosting decorations.
This may be snobby of me to say, but I don’t like the manufactured look of the fondant or gum paste decorations on cakes. If I was mass producing cakes, though, for others, I would get one. I think I’d rather use a knife and make more hand-made, artistic decorations or use already made candy and such. Who knows, though, tomorrow I may change my mind!
H Ladies ~
I worked with the Cake as part of the Provo Demo team and to share with you firstly if you use gum paste in your traditional Cricut your risk of transferring some of the oils from the fondant onto your rollers and possibly never getting it out and it, the oil, deciding to plop, plop oil droplets on your 1 of a kind cardstock. Uh, noooo.
So, get 5 girlfriends together and buy one together, you can’t all have your birthday parties in the same week! Also, hang in there on buying one. Certain stores have already reduced their price by $100 (without the coupon) and it will more than likely be reduced more as the sales for the machine are not as strong as they had hoped. I have to say those Cake cartridges, Elegant Cakes and Birthday Cakes are must have cartridges – they are gorgeous for paper crafting!!! Also, I have to point out, to all the mothers who only want their children having healthy snacks, this gum paste and fondant is like 1000% sugar, not sure I would want my little ones ingesting that stuff – and all the food coloring…yuc!
So yes the Cake is nice, but it’s not the Expression for capability and versatility. So if you are questioning the expenditure then listen to your intuition, don’t do it, yet.
Thank you! For me I try to stay out of the kitchen and away from making cakes. Now I feel a lot better about my lack of interest in needing one. LOL
Thanks for your in put Megan….. I for one don’t think it’s the machine for me…. And for those who thinks it’s ok to mix your paper and food….well YUCK! That’s just gross….. š I think it is a great machine for those who love to decorate cakes… it’s just another form of creating and I always enjoy seeing that… Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone! š
Can the cricut cake cartridges be used for paper cutting , in a regular cricut expression?? I was noticing the holiday cake cartridge has a decorative circle cutout. I wanted to use in my scrapbook page. Wasn’t sure if the cartridge would work on my expression.
okay, I am glad you posted this. I have decorated several cakes & I have to say I got frustrated every time. Yes, it would great to know how much you should acknowledge yourself with ALL the paste, icing and ect. I love the way my cakes looked & I just wish it was EASY as they advertised it to be. I kind of feel bad that I spent all the $$ on this because I relly wanted it to work EASY. Then again what new TOY is easy??? LOL I too watch Cake Boss and Ace of CaKes. Great to have but NOT easy. I just offer my self to others so I can practice. Practice makes better NOT perfect as I have always been told.
Thanks for your review..I love your site and was expecting a comment from you about the Cake. I have purchased the Expression and the Cake! My daughter is getting into cake decorating and knew how much I like my Cricut, so we HAD to have it. Your review is RIGHT ON, in my opinion, too. They both are a brilliant invention, and work as well as the operator! The Cake is just as tempermental as the Expression! Hah! So is my daughter and myself! But once you figure it out – it’s awesome. I would never use the Cake to cut out my paper or vise versa. Yuck! Happy crafting!
Interesting comments. As an experienced cake decorator (fondant, gum paste, pastry, etc.) I can certainly appreciate your frustrations of getting used to working with fondant and the like. Certainly for someone who wants to produce cake decorations that are lovely and professional looking, the Cricut Cake would certainly be an asset. Thanks for giving your followers your honest review.
Barb from Toronto, Canada
Most of the products from PROVO have been quality. However, sometimes not user friendly. I am staying away from the cake machine myself, however, I think the cartridges are a must. They are viable for any scrapbooking project you may have. Thanks for the update and knowledge of the products. Very happy to know before buying. š Blessings to you and yours, and Hope your 4th was all you wanted it to be. Keep on Girl, and Thank you once again.
I do demonstrate the cricut cake among other Provo Craft products and will say there is a learning curve to using the materials. You have to have a light hand when working with the frosting frosting sheets, etc. Also, it works best with cuts over 3″ in size. Each cake I decorate turns out better than the last. The last one I did was one with stiletto heels that are zebra striped on it. TOO CUTE!
LOL as you can tell, I was distracted when I wrote that last comment. I meant to write you have to have a light hand when working with the delicate frosting sheets, etc. Sorry about that.
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I received the Cricut Cake in Feb. for my birthday. I was so excited. I have tried every method I could find in reviews, after following the instructions that came with. I have NO satisfactory results. It rips and tears through everything, producing nothing usable. I have been decorating cakes for 6 years. I make my fondant from marshmallows and for my gumpaste, I buy Wilton’s gumpaste powder and mix it according to instructions. I even used equal amounts of fondant and gumpaste together, still no success. I have put forth more effort in this than I normally would, because it is a gift. This morning, sadly, I am packing up my beautiful red machine, hoping to return it for the money.
Well ladies, I didn’t break down and buy one — my dear hubby just got me a Cricut Cake for my birthday present! He SO feeds my habit!! I had mentioned to him that while I’d like to try my hand at cake decorating from time to time, I’d also like to use the Cricut Cake to cut Polymer clay and/or ceramic slip. You CAN do this! BUT you should ONLY do it if you will PLEASE wash-wash-wash your components of the machine carefully and thoroughly. Only the Cricut Cake components are washable, and do not have rollers to get gunked up. To roll out the polymer clay thin enough for cutting, you can use a pasta machine. From these cuts, you can make jewelry elements, Christmas ornaments, tiles, plates, decorate pottery, etc. To me, the Cricut Cake opens up so many different venues!! I now please ask Provo Craft to invent more time in the day so I can explore all these avenues!!!
Thanks for all the information. I recently requested the Cricut Expression, and I received the Cricut Cake edition. I asked local craft stores about using it for paper crafting and they did not have the answers. All of you answered them perfectly. I don’t think I will be using my Cake edition for paper that sounds so gross! But now I as stuck with my small cricut to use for awhile. I can’t say I am much into cake decorating, but I may try my hand at that and see what turns out. Maybe I can be on the next cake boss? LOL š
It’s not because you are used to paper and not gumpaste and fondant – it is a flaw with the machine itself! I am a professional pastry chef and cake decorator – I bought the Cricut cake the week it came out thinking it might save us time and allow my interns to do more – WRONG- it was a giant waste of money and my experience with customer service was horrible. It is faster for us (even my high school interns) to cut things out by hand than it is to set up the machine and get a clean cut out of it.
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Hi,
Can you interchange the cartridges from the CAKE to the other machine for scrap booking? I just bought the cake on at Big Lots ($99.00) – it’s the big one, not the mini, and the cartridges for $15.00 each. (x2). I have NEVER used either product yet. But, I am fasinated by the prospects! My son is in boy scouts, and I thought it FUN to make sugar cookies with percision images on them or a cake. Please email me as I debating taking it back if it’s so complicated etc.
Can you use this machine for card stock or vinyl