Michele

I started taking cake decorating lessons 3 weeks ago. One of the secrets of making a great cake in my opinion is to freeze the cake first. The cake is easier to handle and is deliciously moist… almost like you added pudding to the mix. We are using Betty Crocker’s cake mixes for this class because we aren’t really learning to bake. We are learning techniques for decorating!

The first cake was a simple sample cake made our teacher, Eva Seibert.  Don’t be afraid of sprinkles!

Our next class we were to bring a cake “set-up” before class. The cakes had to be baked then crumb coated and then another layer of frosting. Lots of sugary frosting.

Recipe for the yummy frosting we used.

Ingredients
1 cup of Shorting
1/2 cup of whole milk
1/2 teaspoon of Almond extract
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1-2 pounds of powdered sugar
and a pinch of salt

Mix the shorting and milk together in a large mixing bowl mixer with a pinch of salt and the extracts. Add one cup at a time the powdered sugar until you get the texture you like. The frosting needs to be thick enough to pipe, but not too thick so you can not spread. It needs to be kind of fluffy. I will be sure to add pictures of the frosting the next time I make it.

We use two batches for each of our cakes. One for the crumb coat/ top layer and more to actually decorate the cake. When we colored the frosting we used frosting paste not the food coloring you get in the tear drop bottles.

I started taking cake decorating lessons 3 weeks ago.

Making a baby Shower cake. This was difficult for my hands. Hard to pipe the frosting. We learned how to reverse shells, making baby boots, rattles and simple flowers.

June and Peppermint plotting…

I have been experimenting with polymer clay and I absolutely love the medium. The boxes take me about a day to complete and 15-20 minutes to bake in the oven.

This is my first project with an small candy tin.

I didn’t know what to make so I decided to have a go at making a peacock type design.

I think it turned out okay. I was really fun to do. I think I am hooked now.

I cut out some foam so I could place my calligraphy tips in it.

Banana for reference.

I made one for my boyfriend.

I decided to do the bottom too.

My third box.