So my daughter and I decided to take cake decorating class. We had our first class a few weeks ago and had a great time. Our biggest challenge was crumb coating which was pretty crumby. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) But as I told my kiddo, we can only get better.
This past week we had out second class. We headed over with our cakes and frosting already prepared. Assignment number two: a car cake. Things I learned:
Although I think paste food dyes are great, these little bottles rock. They are easy to add to frosting and mix colors without a big mess.
Don't use a plastic spoon to mix your frosting. It will break.
Don't fill up your decorating bag too much. As you work, the warmth of your hand warms it up and it doesn't come out of the tip as well. Or, work faster then I did! lol
Making a basic car shape is almost as easy as a butterfly. Cut a round in half, crumb coat the tops and stick them together. The shaping was fun and easy with a sharp serrated knife. Unfortunately it was at this stage that I could tell I was going to have problems with my cake. Apparently I make my cakes too moist. I had some problems in class one and this time was even worse. My cake was so moist it was falling apart. I need to figure out how to make a moist but firm cake. A goal for future classes. I'm learning...
After mixing our colors and doing a crumb coating, we added windows, doors and hoods first by marking the lines with a toothpick then piping the white frosting on top with a #7 tip.
We made stars with a #17 tip. That was fun! This is also when I realized after awhile that my frosting was warming up too much from my grip and started to come out without a nice star shape. Note to self, only fill the bag up halfway then refill.
We finished off the cakes with a #48 tip bumper, donuts for wheels and M&M's for the head and tail lights. The antennae was a piece of spaghetti that we stuck in our #7 tip and squeezed frosting all over it. My daughter made the blue one and I made the purple one.
I knew when I first cut my cake in half that my cake was going to give me problems. It was just crumbling. I managed to crumb coat it by thinning out my frosting but it just wasn't sticking very well. By the time we got home my poor car was falling apart. I was tempted to leave you all with the photo above but the reality is that I am learning so you guys will see the good, bad and ugly. Here is the ugly...
http://karenard.com/blog/2010/09/cake-decorating-101-2-of-8.html
The family spent a few hours down at Venice Beach last week. It was mid week and pretty empty and quite for the boardwalk, which of course isn't nearly as entertaining, but it was a beautiful summer day and we had a great time wandering around. I used to live down here for quite a few years and I miss the beachy, artsy vibe. It matches my personality much more then the valley ever did but ah well, such is life.
These were taken with my 3G iPhone camera.
http://karenard.com/blog/2010/09/day-trippin-venice-beach.html
My daughter and I love watching all the cooking and baking shows that we can find. We record them and watch when we can, talking about all the different cupcakes, designs, flavors, etc... Well, we decided that we needed to take cake decorating classes, and I love that she is old enough now that we can do fun stuff like this together. (She also loves scrapbooking with me! Yeah!)
We had our first of eight classes today. We made the cakes and frosting at home then brought them in for decorating. Assignment number one: a butterfly cake. Things I learned:
Making everything from scratch is the best.
Licking frosting from the mixer makes me feel like I'm five again.
Making a basic butterfly shape is easier then I thought. Just cut the 8" round in half!
Frosting a cake properly is a lot harder then I thought. There is definitely a technique to getting it to stick to your cake without your super yummy, moist cake falling apart. My daughter and I are assuming we will get better at this.
We learned to make our own gel, piping bags using parchment paper, and colored frosting. There were certain techniques we were being taught so our designs all looked fairly similar but that's okay.
Spending two hours with my daughter, laughing, talking and having a great time is priceless. Here is her finished cake.
And here is mine.
The tip we used for the edging was a #17. And we were both very excited to use a bit of edible glitter! We had a blast and I bet your local bake supply shop has classes too. We are learning at Kake Kreations in Canoga Park. I've gone here for a gazillion years to pick up baking supplies and I always stopped to watch the people in class - now that's us. I also love that you can take the classes whenever you want so if you need to skip a week or two it's no big deal. I'll post again after our next class and hopefully you'll see an improvement as we get better.
julie Says:
awesome job. i've thought about taking those classes for so long. the cake looks great. keep up the good work. who eats the cake?
(09.03.10 - 05:42 PM)
h2obetty Says:
The funny thing is neither of us like cake too much so we give them to people or I'll have the Firefighter bring them to work.
(09.03.10 - 06:06 PM)
http://karenard.com/blog/2010/08/cake-decorating-101-1-of-8.html
Hi my name is Karen; I'm a snacker. (Do I hear you all saying "Hi Karen"?) I'm one of those eat-six-small-meals-over-the-course-of-the-day type people. I just don't have the appetite for big meals. And there's is just something about bit size food that I love. And cheese. I could eat cheese at every meal. As much as I try to be a vegetarian, I could never be vegan. A life without cheese is not something I want to ever experience.
So for this month's 'Thing's I Love' post, I bring you my new favorite culinary obsession: Chevre Goat Cheese (with herbs preferably) on Trader Joe's Pita Bite Crackers. I could eat the whole log in one sitting. (I'm so glad my metabolism hasn't completely gone to pot yet!)
What is your favorite snack?
I first met Brittany a few years back when my daughter started playing softball. She is also going to high school with my son and playing softball for the school. Brittany always has a warm smile and big hug for me - Just a sweetheart!
It turns out Brittany has recently gotten very ill and three weeks in, she is still in ICU but showing improvements and getting stronger. It also turns out that her parents do not have health insurance. After all the debates on health care going on in this country, here is a first-hand account of a hard-working family struggling to get their daughter the care she needs.
This is where you and I come in. I'm hoping to help rally the local community to make a difference for Brittany's family by coming out for a PHOTO FUNDRAISER. 100% of the proceeds will go toward Brittany's medical expenses.
Please join me by booking a ten-minute mini-photo session*. For $50 you will get a beautiful portrait and two retouched digital files. This might be a perfect time to get your holiday portrait taken; the headshot you've been meaning to get; or even a portrait of your new puppy! The studio will not have a deal THIS good for a long time!
When: Sunday, August 29
9am - 12pm
Where: Shadow Ranch Park in West Hills
I will be booking sessions every 15 minutes, so it is important that you call to book your time. If all the slots fill up, I will happily extend the time to help Brittany as much as possible.
Please call now, operators are standing by! (Okay, I couldn't resist that one!) Really though, come out with your family and make a difference.
*Please note that this is for one set-up and one look only.
A little artsy photo from the field...
http://karenard.com/blog/2010/08/photo-fundraiser.html