Mantra: A word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation
"BE AT PEACE.....CAKE IS SLOW"
Picture transfer: Go Chargers :)
After I really started getting serious about cake decorating and started my blog, I decided that I wanted to take the second Wilton class, "Flowers and Cake Design." As you might have read in a previous post, I was fascinated by the sugar flowers on my wedding cake and I wanted to learn how to do that. This class was a different experience from the first class. I took it by myself at a different Michaels because I was super determined to stay focused. Also unlike the first class, I really struggled in this one. The first week was gum paste and fondant. That first class confirmed it....I hate fondant and fondant hates me. I couldn't roll it out thin enough and my flowers looked nothing like what my teacher had made. Then the words came out of my teacher's (Kim) mouth, "Be at peace.....cake is slow." That night, for about an hour after the class, I patiently practiced rolling fondant and creating flowers. Apparently, I was in fact rushing it in class. I eventually got it. Above is my final button flower and pansy.
I was relieved to be done with fondant and gum paste after the first class. I knew how to use a piping bag, frosting, and tip! Or so I thought. Royal icing is a BIOTCH! It is one of the most temperamental things I have ever had to deal with. Sometimes its too dry so you have to add water....then it's too wet so you have to add cornstarch and a lot of it. I must say my arms got a workout cause when I was making it, since I don't have a stand mixer, I had to use my little hand mixer....for 12 minutes. Anyways, in class that night we made apple blossom and primroses and for the life of me, I could not get the motion to pipe them. I was getting so frustrated that Kim saw me and said, "I see unhappiness!!!" Kim is an awesome teacher and since there weren't many of us that night, she actual sat there with me and showed me the motion repeatedly until I sorta got it. I appreciate her patience and that mantra rang in my head as I practice at home after class, "Be at peace...cake is slow."
Slow? Who has time to go slow?? I got things to do and places to be! Anyone who knows me knows that I very rarely work at a slow pace. Why do you think I'm clumsy.....it's cause I'm always in a hurry. I always have at least 2 projects going at the same time at work because if I didn't, I wouldn't get anything done....especially this week with my boss on vacation. I've been doing the work of 2 people for about a week and a half (with the support of my amazing co-workers ;] ). So why on earth would I decide to take a cake decorating class this month? Simply put...I'm a little crazy and a sucker for punishment.
On my 28th birthday, my cousin and aunt bought me a 101 piece cake decorating kit that kick started my baking and decorating. From that point on, my cousin and I planned to take a cake decorating class together and we finally got around to in in the Fall. I took the "Wilton's Basic Cake Decorating" class at a local Michael's store (www.Michaels.com). For anyone who likes to bake and wants to learn the basics of baking and cake decorating...everything from how to level a cake to making the cool little swirly top on a cupcake to making a ribbon rose....I recommend taking this class. It was super informative and I use a lot of the techniques every time I bake. It was also fun to take it with my cousin who makes me laugh at the simplest things. We were like the disruptive schoolgirls at the back of the classroom who wouldn't stop giggling. Below are a couple of my cakes from the first class.
Picture transfer: Go Chargers :)
Ribbon Roses
Swirly top cupcakes and drop flowers
After I really started getting serious about cake decorating and started my blog, I decided that I wanted to take the second Wilton class, "Flowers and Cake Design." As you might have read in a previous post, I was fascinated by the sugar flowers on my wedding cake and I wanted to learn how to do that. This class was a different experience from the first class. I took it by myself at a different Michaels because I was super determined to stay focused. Also unlike the first class, I really struggled in this one. The first week was gum paste and fondant. That first class confirmed it....I hate fondant and fondant hates me. I couldn't roll it out thin enough and my flowers looked nothing like what my teacher had made. Then the words came out of my teacher's (Kim) mouth, "Be at peace.....cake is slow." That night, for about an hour after the class, I patiently practiced rolling fondant and creating flowers. Apparently, I was in fact rushing it in class. I eventually got it. Above is my final button flower and pansy. 
I was relieved to be done with fondant and gum paste after the first class. I knew how to use a piping bag, frosting, and tip! Or so I thought. Royal icing is a BIOTCH! It is one of the most temperamental things I have ever had to deal with. Sometimes its too dry so you have to add water....then it's too wet so you have to add cornstarch and a lot of it. I must say my arms got a workout cause when I was making it, since I don't have a stand mixer, I had to use my little hand mixer....for 12 minutes. Anyways, in class that night we made apple blossom and primroses and for the life of me, I could not get the motion to pipe them. I was getting so frustrated that Kim saw me and said, "I see unhappiness!!!" Kim is an awesome teacher and since there weren't many of us that night, she actual sat there with me and showed me the motion repeatedly until I sorta got it. I appreciate her patience and that mantra rang in my head as I practice at home after class, "Be at peace...cake is slow."
On the third night, we made daffodils, violets, rose blossoms, lilies, and the Wilton rose. The daffodils and violets I got cause I had drilled myself on the flowers from the previous week and it was the same basic motion. I even managed to make really nice rose blossoms. Unhappiness must have been evident on my face when I was working on roses because I never did get the rose perfect. Instead of a beautiful bloom, my petals drooped inwards. That day was the first day at work that my boss was gone and I was tired and cranky. I did not practice after class. I was definitely bummer baker Suzy and I was most certainly not at peace.
But I did make up for it last Saturday. For about 2+ hours, I made a mix of daffodils, violets, and primroses for my final cake. On Sunday, I made real buttercream from scratch. At my last class, I learned how to make a basketweave. I think I must have been so frustrated with my third class, I didn't hear that I was suppose to make the buttercream recipe that was in the book which is much stiffer than real buttercream. Needless to say, I had melting buttercream all over the place. Kim finally realized that my icing was the real stuff because it was being funky while I put the basketweave on my cake. Everything started to droop. For the first time, Kim said to me, "You're gunna have to move and go faster!" I had to laugh quietly to myself that I had inspired my teacher....be at Peace, cake is slow....to tell me to hurry. Here is my final product.
I think I did okay for my final cake. I'm at peace with it :)
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