CAKE CLASS

This month I took a "Cake Decorating Basics" class from Michael's Craft Store. Each week we were assigned homework - to bake either cookies, cupcakes, or cake and bring it to class for decorating. Below are the fruits of my cake-making labor.

First class - Cookies. Wups, I didn't know we had to bring anything in, so no pictures of this.

Second class - Cake. For our second Cake Basics class, we were all instructed to bring a baked cake. During class we learned how to properly frost the cake without getting crumbs, and how to smooth the cake out with a piece of parchment paper (which was only marginally successful). We also learned to take a sketch of any kind, trace it onto parchment paper with writing gel, and then place the parchment paper onto the iced cake. With the outline of the design on the cake, it was just a matter of filling in the spaces - like a coloring book.

Third class - Cupcakes. For our third class, we brought cupcakes with the assumption we'd have time to frost them all. This was not so! We spent so much time during class learning how to make buttercream flowers and borders on our practice boards, that it was a scramble to get any frosting on the cupcakes before Michael's closed. I managed to put something on all of them, but it wasn't necessarily pretty! And then my cake ate one behind my back...

Fourth class - Cake. The forth and final cake class we were allotted plenty of time to decorate our pre-baked and pre-frosted (there was a lot of homework for this class!) in whatever fashion we liked. I chose a paradox cake - vegetable on the outside, banana on the inside, but mainly - of course - sugar.