Stars, Lines, & Writing

This week we finally got to play with icing!  Unfortunately, I got a cold this week and wasn't feeling very well, but I didn't want to miss out since there are only 4 total classes.  So I whipped up my buttercream frosting.  FYI - the main ingredient is Crisco, and I'm not too fond of the taste.  I think the point of using this is really so we can keep using the same icing all throughout the class.  So when I actually make a cake for someone to eat, I will likely not use this same recipe.

Here's what it looked like:

We started with a star tip and practiced making stars & lines.  The zigzag technique can be used to make a neat border.  The stars are pretty neat when they are all bunched up together, but it definitely is tiring on your hand (at least at first since I'm not used to it).

 

Also, my icing may have been a bit too stiff making it harder to squeeze out of the bag.  Just adding a little water at a time helps to get a lighter consistency.  We definitely had to do that for the next part which was writing.

Now, I promise you I'm not this good at keeping all my letters straight.  You can probably tell that I was tracing over a practice sheet.  But the technique is pretty simple.  The most important part is to make sure you're not pushing out icing when you get finished with a line, or else your letters will go all over the place.  When I try this on a real cake we'll see how straight my words are ;-) 

Bradley (my husband) has a birthday at the end of this month.  Hun, if you have crooked letters, just know it came straight from the heart!! :)

Haha speaking of heart, notice how I tried to draw hearts at the bottom of that last image?  LOL, who knew hearts could be so hard? 

Also, we practiced making dots.  Those are pretty neat and when you get finished making the dot as large as you want it to be you have to stop the icing flow & pull up and to the right really quickly (like in one swift motion) to keep from having little peaks at the top of all your dots.  We all had a funny time trying that technique.

All in all it was a pretty good class and it was great to gets hands on.  On the way home I got great news that my childhood best friend had her daughter (1st child), so that might be a good reason to make my first cake ;-)  A welcome home cake for Brooklyn.

Cake Decorating 1st Class

My friend, Erika, works at Michael's and was interested in taking some of the classes they provide...I think they are free for her!  She lives about 40 minutes away from me and even though that's not far we hardly see each other anymore; therefore, I decided to do it with her.

When it comes to cooking/baking, I definitely prefer baking over cooking.  When we have potluck events, be it with family or work, I tend to gravitate towards desserts over anything else.  Therefore, why not make it look pretty?!  Agreeing to take this class was basically a spur of the moment decision, but I am so glad I agreed.  I can't WAIT for our next lesson.

This past Thursday (May 6th) was the first class.  We received our lesson plans and discussed what we would be doing.  We purchased some of the materials that we will need.  Right now at Michael's they are giving out 40% coupons to be used on a single item the next time you come in.  This is going to make buying all this supplies MUCH more affordable.  Plus, as part of the class you get a general 10% off of everything that you buy as well. 

The instructor works for Wilton Industries so most of the product that I am buying at the moment is from Wilton.  But I will be exploring other cake decorating suppliers as well. 

For next week we have to whip up some Butter Cream Icing...yum!!  I have honestly never made my own icing.  This icing is going to be a very stiff consistency, which we will thin out depending on what we need to do.  Stiff consistency is used for flowers and things that need to stand up.  Medium consistency is used for piping, borders, and flowers that will lie flat.  Thin consistency is used for writing, leaves, and making vines.

I am just dying to eat some cake!!  You should go out and eat some too.  Hopefully next week I will have some pictures to share with you.