Cake!

A while ago I posted about the aprons that I made for a cake decorating class I was taking with my sister. I thought I would post a bit about what we've learned now that we've completed 2 courses, and are 'certified' in the basic arts of buttercream, gumpaste and fondant cake decorating. That's certified.... not certifiable.


So the first course we took was on buttercream decorating. Admittedly, I had a hard time with the class's version of "buttercream" as the recipe they specified didn't actually have any butter in it.... but hey - you learn the techniques and then stick with what you know, right?

By the end of the class we had created several different piped decorations, flowers, etc and here are a couple of cakes using those techniques, but my own (IMHO, superior) recipes.

The second course we took was gumpaste and fondant decorations. And they're SO fun! Also - SOOOO much work. Honestly, after taking these courses I can say that I completely understand why professional cakes are so expensive. There are hours and hours of work that go into decorated cakes.  Here are a couple of gumpaste/fondant cakes that came out of what we learned in our second course.

So there you have it! What we've learned thus far. I'm loving these courses, and plan on putting these techniques to good use, even making the wedding cake/cupcakes for my brother-in-law and his fiancee's upcoming wedding!

What do you think? Do you like learning new things? Or are you content to stick with the hobbies you know already?

I know one thing, I love any hobby that goes so well with tea. :)

Tea.