The Baby Shower Cake

I think I have found a go-to cake for events and parties.

In the very last cake decorating class that I had in Course 1 this is the cake that we made. Well, not THIS one, but the same design. I ended up going with this design because it was something that I was familiar with and didn't think I would stress myself out so much about it. I think it ended up rather well for doing it completely on my own.

Before I even started my cake decorating classes my mom asked me if I could help her with the cake for the baby shower she was throwing and I, or course, said no problem. After I had taken my first two courses I had somewhat of an idea as to what I wanted to do but nothing set in stone. After my last class I realized that the last cake was the one that I needed to make. 1 - The baby was going to be a girl and 2 - I knew it was something I could do. This eased a lot of stress on my part and made the decorating process even more fun since it was more like practice!

I know that this picture isn't the greatest, but I wanted to show off the roses I made beforehand. I was being very time-concious when making this cake. I made icing while the cake was baking, while it was cooling I made roses, once it was cool I torted and assembled and then decorated. All in all, it took me five hours to do all of that. Now that's dedication.

The cake was Double Chocolate Fudge, the filling was chocolate pudding, and the frosting was cream cheese frosting. Yummmm.

Hope this doesn't make you too hungry :)

♥kayla

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 2

Today's class was the second class in course one, and it was completely different than what I thought it would be. We were asked to bring in a cake that was already frosted, and I assumed that we were going to make our own design. When we got there we were told that it was going to be a 'practice cake', and that we would be making a cake with a hot-air balloon on it in the next class. They will show us how to transfer a picture onto a cake and then we are going to fill it in.....cool, but I was hoping for the rainbow. I can do that on my own though once I learn how to do it!

Double Fudge Cake with Chocolate Pudding Filling and Cream Cheese Icing

Wilton Class Buttercream Icing, slightly tweaked. This is stiff stuff!

This is my practice cake, 3 roses, a heart made of stars, a large shell border, and on the side there are zig zags and ropes.

This shows the side detail a little better. First there is a zig zag pattern all the way up and down the sides and then the ropes are hung over them.

I'm rather proud of what I've done for my first cake decorating venture. Our teacher is terrific and I found out today that she helped write the class cake decorating books! I just thought that was awesome! She also told us that she used to make cakes for hire and had done it for 50 years and would be willing to tell us any tricks of the trade.....sounds like shortcuts and timesavers! Something that she told us that would save a huge mess was about the colors for our icing. She said rather than pull the entire protective aluminum top off, just poke a hole that you can put a toothpick through! Amazing!

I've learned so much in the past two weeks that I would like to continue going, however, money issues hold me back. I also learned today that they are going to be discontinuing the third cake decorating class after May's class because of lack of interest. Boooooo. That's the class where you learn the proper way to stack teired cakes, which would be handy to know if I were to become a decent enough cake decorator to make wedding cakes.

Anyway, thought I would share this with you! Haven't been on in a while because I've been busy with cakes since Sunday!! Still have some pictures to post from around the house.....need to do.....where are my post its?!?!

♥

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Class 1

First of all I want to show you this picture. It is of three roses, two of them the instructor made and the other one I made. Can you guess which one it is?????? (The answer is at the bottom of this post)

Also, if you searched for Wilton classes and have happened to stumble upon my blog, please read more of my April 2010 posts, as I did a post for every class that I attended! It truly is a wonderful class! (Class 4 is NOT listed as Class 4, the post is titled "I'm An Official Cake Decorator!" if you want to check it out)

When I signed up for the course the cashier told me that for the first class I didn't need to bring anything, so I assumed we were just going to make a list of what we needed to make and bring next time. I was SO wrong......to an extent. One of the first things the instructor asked was "Did you bring your Course 1 set??" to which I, of course, replied "No, the cashier told me I wouldn't need it". She then told me that it was too bad because we were going to go through our kits and make sure we had all the right tips and if we were missing any she would give us what we were missing. But, I've taken the first two classes for this before, so I actually had triple the tips for the first course....quick explanation....

So, my sister and I both took Cake Decorating Course 1 in 4H while I was a Freshman and she was in seventh grade. We ended up taking only two classes and didn't go again, seems kinda silly now huh? There's two sets of tips there. This past Christmas, my Aunt Betty was so generous to buy me a 'tackle box' of cake decorating supplies from Wilton! That present was pretty sweet! That's the set of tips plus some extra, like the rose pin!!

This first class taught me a lot more than I thought it would in the first class! We automatically went through the kits - mine at home - and went through this booklet that she gave to us all, scribbling notes all the while. She showed us the proper way to fold and hold a bag, how to torte a cake using a leveler, showed us the proper way to fill a cake with things like pudding (yum!), and the finale was showing us how to make roses. That was so exciting for me because the icing rose has always mystified me and now I know its secret! He he....no, really it was SO cool to learn that and it makes me super excited for next weeks class......now I'm wondering what I should do with my cake I've got to take to class since I know people at work might try to eat it.....hmmm.......

Kayla ♥

So, the rose that I made is the one on the bottom! If you guessed correctly, then good for you! If not, better luck next time!

So I Start Class Tomorrow :)

I have officially signed up for Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1. I went tom Michaels on my lunch break and meandered around in the bakery and wedding aisle. I found a few things of interest. There was this wedding planner organizer - which is perfect for me since I love to organize - but the datebook in it was from 2009! The thing cost $40, but I think they could discount slightly for being outdated....he he. Just being a picky shopper which I know I shouldn't be. I also saw some really cute orange invitations but it was a set of 30 for $40. I'm not sure but I think I could probably get a computer program or find someone with one and make it for cheaper.

Anyway, to the point at hand. The first class is tomorrow night from 6:30 to 8:30 at Michaels. They told me that I do not have to bring my kit the first night just something to write on, which makes me believe we are making a list of what we need to make for the next class or three. I know that I have at least 2 good chocolate cake recipes but I haven't really done vanilla cake from scratch, I prefer chocolate. Cross your fingers we can choose so I can stick with what I know best!

So, pictures to follow when I have something to show off.

Kayla ♥