Hey everyone, so for that past couple of months I have been taking a cake decorating class at Michaels craft store. As much as I want to take a full time baking class- I unfortunately don't have the funds or the time to enroll in one. So instead I decided to take these once a week classes to not only learn but to develop this hobby of mine. Last Wednesday was my last class for this particular course (they have 4 courses being taught, each focusing on different parts of cake decorating i.e fondant, buttercream, flowers) and we had to bring our own cake, frost it and finally decorate it with fondant and things we made in previous classes.
For my cake, I came up with a real elegant, simple 'Spring' concept a week before hand. I had already decided that I would make a 6 inch cake because it was not only easier to decorate but also really easy to transport (when you're walking around downtown, it's nice not to have to carry many things.
I settled on making a double chocolate cake with a milk chocolate frosting. I had already baked, cooled down and trimmed the cake to the appropriate size the evening before so all I had to do in class was frost, roll, place and decorate the cake (which surprisingly takes a little longer than you'd think).
First thing I had to do was apply a crumb coat to both layers of the cake and stack them on top of each other. Apparently, the crumb coat keeps the crumbs together and gives the cake a more solidify look. Since the cake was going to be covered by fondant, it wasn't crucial to make this look completely neat.
After the crumb coat was applied, I had to let it set for about 10-15 minutes to allow the frosting to stiffen up and keep its shape. Then after I applied a thick coating along the side and particularly on the side and closer to the bottom of the cake- since the frosting will act as a glue to the rolled fondant.
So during the period of letting the crumb coat settle, I had rolled out the fondant wide enough to cover the top and the side of the cake, with still some leftover fondant in case I needed it. I carefully placed it on top of the cake and slowly working my way from the top to the bottom, I started molding the fondant to the cake.
Once the whole cake was covered and I was happy with the placement of the fondant, I trimmed the rest of the fondant off.
In a previous class, we had learned how to make simple leaves out of gum paste and then I took that knowledge home and made a whack ton more to act as a border along the base of the cake.
The main focus of my course this month was fondant and gum paste flowers, so I knew wanted to incorporate some sort of floral aspect to my 'Spring' cake. Of all the flowers we made, the roses I found were my favourite so I stuck with them. And with the green leaves and white fondant, I knew I didn't want red roses but instead yellow roses because they fit more with my theme. Again, after learning how to make them in class, I made a bunch at home and brought back for this cake.
And after putting everything together I ended up with a delicious cake that even I was sort of in awe of. I mean, it was a little difficult to imagine I made that cake. (Not to brag or anything- but it looked pretty good and delicious, store worthy if I do say so myself)
Luckily in my particular class, I only had one other person enrolled, so we got lots of one on one time with our teacher and in turn we were both able to turn out some pretty remarkable cakes. She decided for her final cake to dye her fondant to purple before placing it on her cake.
In an earlier class, we learned how to make bows as cake toppers, so she used hers to make her cake look like an elegant, charming present. I personally really liked the colour combination she used of pink and purple, making the cake ultra feminine and perfect for a little girl's birthday.
Overall, I had a blast in this course, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who has spare time and wanting to try something new. As for me, I've continued to make and decorate cakes since then, and am actually looking into possibly making this a career for myself (baking and cake decorating that is).
My current goal is continue to make/decorate cakes for myself and friends and eventually build up a solid portfolio to show bakeries and hopefully get a job part time as a baker if not a decorator. :)
For my cake, I came up with a real elegant, simple 'Spring' concept a week before hand. I had already decided that I would make a 6 inch cake because it was not only easier to decorate but also really easy to transport (when you're walking around downtown, it's nice not to have to carry many things.
I settled on making a double chocolate cake with a milk chocolate frosting. I had already baked, cooled down and trimmed the cake to the appropriate size the evening before so all I had to do in class was frost, roll, place and decorate the cake (which surprisingly takes a little longer than you'd think).
First thing I had to do was apply a crumb coat to both layers of the cake and stack them on top of each other. Apparently, the crumb coat keeps the crumbs together and gives the cake a more solidify look. Since the cake was going to be covered by fondant, it wasn't crucial to make this look completely neat.
After the crumb coat was applied, I had to let it set for about 10-15 minutes to allow the frosting to stiffen up and keep its shape. Then after I applied a thick coating along the side and particularly on the side and closer to the bottom of the cake- since the frosting will act as a glue to the rolled fondant.
So during the period of letting the crumb coat settle, I had rolled out the fondant wide enough to cover the top and the side of the cake, with still some leftover fondant in case I needed it. I carefully placed it on top of the cake and slowly working my way from the top to the bottom, I started molding the fondant to the cake.
Once the whole cake was covered and I was happy with the placement of the fondant, I trimmed the rest of the fondant off.
In a previous class, we had learned how to make simple leaves out of gum paste and then I took that knowledge home and made a whack ton more to act as a border along the base of the cake.
The main focus of my course this month was fondant and gum paste flowers, so I knew wanted to incorporate some sort of floral aspect to my 'Spring' cake. Of all the flowers we made, the roses I found were my favourite so I stuck with them. And with the green leaves and white fondant, I knew I didn't want red roses but instead yellow roses because they fit more with my theme. Again, after learning how to make them in class, I made a bunch at home and brought back for this cake.
And after putting everything together I ended up with a delicious cake that even I was sort of in awe of. I mean, it was a little difficult to imagine I made that cake. (Not to brag or anything- but it looked pretty good and delicious, store worthy if I do say so myself)
Luckily in my particular class, I only had one other person enrolled, so we got lots of one on one time with our teacher and in turn we were both able to turn out some pretty remarkable cakes. She decided for her final cake to dye her fondant to purple before placing it on her cake.
In an earlier class, we learned how to make bows as cake toppers, so she used hers to make her cake look like an elegant, charming present. I personally really liked the colour combination she used of pink and purple, making the cake ultra feminine and perfect for a little girl's birthday.
Overall, I had a blast in this course, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who has spare time and wanting to try something new. As for me, I've continued to make and decorate cakes since then, and am actually looking into possibly making this a career for myself (baking and cake decorating that is).
My current goal is continue to make/decorate cakes for myself and friends and eventually build up a solid portfolio to show bakeries and hopefully get a job part time as a baker if not a decorator. :)
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