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Monday, December 21, 2009

Wilton Cake Class One: The Results


While I may bake a mean cake, I sure suck at decorating them. Always have. Husband was better than me at frosting a layer cake for a really long time. Recently, my best friend and I decided to take the Wilton cake decorating class, at the beginner level, naturally. It was a lot of fun - in part, because she and I are prone to get the giggles over silly stuff, but also because the class was just fun. Our instructor, Maureen, was a hoot - she's been doing this a long time, and her style of teaching was definitely from the school of hard knocks.

I did several practice cakes, at first with cake mixes, because I was making cakes so often that I just didn't have the heart to make a cake from scratch every darn day. But they taste so bad! Especially with the class buttercream frosting (a.k.a. CriscoCream). Yuck. Then I made a cake for Thanksgiving as a practice cake, with the Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe (also known as the end-all-be-all chocolate cake recipe), and it tasted so good, I couldn't go back. From that point on, I made the cakes from scratch. I still have a plethora of box mixes in my pantry that I ought to donate.

The last class was definitely the hardest - roses are not my friends. I had a super hard time figuring out how to large make the rose base, and then how to pipe on the center of the rose. However, I totally rocked at piping rose petals, definitely. My roses didn't look perfect, by any stretch...in fact, they looked a bit more like carnations, with rough edges to my petals and all. I fully intend to try again on Husband's birthday cake this week, so stay tuned. My best friend on the other hand was kicking out cabbage roses like nobody's business, so I suppose I may call her to pipe a few roses on Husband's cake.

I still can't make my frosting look as smooth and perfect as a wedding cake, but I'm way better than I was when I started, that's for sure. I'd definitely recommend this class to anyone who enjoys decorating their baked goods, I've used a lot of the techniques I learned in cake class on my holiday cookies this year. Here's a few snaps from the cakes I practiced on and class itself:






7 comments:

  1. Wow. I am super impressed : ) Glad you found a cake recipe you love to make! : ). Good luck with your husbands Birthday cake! PS I love doing things with my best friend too! She makes the most mundane things interesting : )

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  2. I need this class ASAP. i usually just stick toy figures or M&M's on my cakes because I am soooo bad at decorating. I love that Christmas tree one - beautiful!

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  3. I took those classes too and can't believe how their little tricks could make such a difference!

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  4. I think you did a great job! I also have no culinary talent, other than decorating Christmas sugar cookies now and then. Your cakes have made my tummy grumble!

    ~Elizabeth
    http://confessionsfromaworkingmom.blogspot.com

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  5. Very nicely done i'm impressed. My siste ralso took a class and wow you can learn a lot in those classes. She didour dad's 65th birthday cake.

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  6. Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by the blog. These cakes look yummy! I love "real" icing as opposed to fondant. Making me hungry.

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  7. Coming from someone who is completely taunted by the idea of piping, I think you did an amazing job. Although I will make myself go to a class "someday" there is always the option of buying the pretty hand-made (i.e. pre-made ones) at the cake decorating stores and then not necessarily telling the whole truth when people ask, "Did you make that?" I mean you're not completely lying because you DID make the cake, right:) ~Liz

    mommyuniv.blogspot.com

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