Wilton Cake Decorating: Course 1, FINALE

Well, Course 1 of my Wilton Cake Decorating is over :( I feel somewhat saddened, but also very accomplished. I've gained some new skills in the art of cake decorating and I'm very proud of myself.

Here, I'm showing off my beautiful sweetpeas... aren't they adorable?

Finally, after 4 classes we have reached the stage of completing the Wilton Rose!

Here's me, posing with my beautiful cake

The course was a lot of fun... I'm hoping to sign up for Course 2, but I think I'll give it a break (at least for now). I want to relax and enjoy the free-time I do have, since I'm picking up a ton of extra working hours at KFC! That's not to say that I won't be decorating cakes at home... I know my family is getting sick of having to eat up all the cakes I make, but hey... what's better to become sick from the flu or a cake?!? :P

My Matcha Cupcakes

As promised in my Wilton Lesson 3 post I would post the recipe I used for the Matcha Cupcakes. I actually used an internet recipe which can be found at matchasource.com and let me encourage you to try it. The pound-cake like texture and the amazing matcha flavor go so well together in this recipe that I can't even describe it... and will not attempt to alter it at all.

The buttercream I used was made using the basic recipe from the Wilton Course book (you can find it on the Wilton Website). Here is a picture tutorial of my step by step cupcake making...

Step 1: Bake the cupcakes and let them cool

Step 2: Frost the cupcakes and...

Step 3: Dip the frosted cupcakes in desiccated coconut

Step 4: Take the iced cupcakes to class & decorate as you wish!

Wilton Cake Decorating: Course 1, Lesson 3

Woah! I'm 75% finished my Wilton course... that is utterly insane! It seems like I've just gotten started, but that doesn't matter because now that I've learned the skills I can always decorate whenever I want. So the homework for this class was to prepare either one 8-inch round cake to decorate or 8 cupcakes to decorate. Seeing as I made a cake last time I wanted to do the cupcakes because... well, cupcakes are just so darned cute don't you think? I used a Green-tea (Matcha) cake recipe, which I will post separately, and frosted each cupcake with buttercream and desiccated coconut.

Here's some of the stuff we learned...

Figure Piping Smiley Faces


Learning to pipe clown bodies... I didn't get the heads because they kinda creep me out. But I'm starting to think that headless clowns are more creepy!

Piping Shells... the one on the right is mine :P and the teachers is on the left

It was a lot of fun decorating the cupcakes with different designs... here are some close-up pictures of my beautiful cupcake creations.

A rather cute looking cupcake with a tip-21 drop flower and tip-16 stars

An adorable figure piping bear with a little honey bee hovering above his head

More close-ups of the busy bumblebees

And then I just got lazy... look at my ugly yellow heart. It resembles a butt! And that strand of black in the middle? What's up with that?

Wilton Cake Decorating: Course 1, Lesson 2

Woot! I've finished my guitar cake. Boy was it a fun class on Thursday, sure we mostly practiced our techniques for star-tips, writing and dot making but I had a great time! The class was 2 hrs long and we spent roughly 1 hr 15mins learning to perfect our icing techniques. I was excited to start learning the proper way to make a Wilton Rose. Sure we only did the base of the rose for lesson 2, but next week we'll start adding onto it :)

Here's my practice board... not too shabby if I do say so myself

I finished all the homework that was given us in the first lesson ... and on time to boot! My guitar cake turned out pretty well. Using Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip cake mix was a brilliant idea. And I was psyched that this cake would double as a Father's Day cake, seeing as how my dad's b-day cake didn't turn out as well as I had hoped for :P

We had 30 mins to work on our personal cakes in class, definitely not enough time to finish it off. All I got finished was icing the sides and laying down the chocolate candy plaques. But once I got home I worked until 11 pm to get the cake done... because, once you get started you just develop a certain rhythm and you can't stop yourself.

Here's the finished product...

The strings might be a bit wonky, but at least I have the right number of them :P

Here I am, raring and ready to go... Lesson 3 HERE I COME!

Wilton Cake Decorating: Course 1, Lesson 1

I was so excited this past Thursday, because I got to start the cake decorating course that I signed up for at Michael's. Having had some experience in making and decorating cakes I really just wanted to polish-off and perfect my icing technique. I think that the best way to give food as gifts to people is to make the food as aesthetically pleasing as possible. What better way to make cakes and cookies look cute than to decorate them with simple icing!

Here's our teacher, checking out the box of Crisco

I signed up with a friend who also loves cooking (she works in a bakery! Isn't she lucky?) and we had an awesome first day. Mind you that the equipment you buy for the class is never enough! After the 2 hr session we ended up spending some more money on baking & decorating accessories. I'm looking forward to the next class, but not so looking forward to the homework that has to be done.

Homework:

1. Have a cake ready to decorate for our next session... doesn't sound too bad eh? But it has to be iced in a variety of colors... meaning that I had to buy various gel icing colors. Since I'm doing a character cake (if you can call a guitar a character) I had to buy the pan as well, which was $18.50... then my brain reminded me that I have to have a caddy to carry my cake in! So, I had to spend more money $20 on a cake caddy!!!

2. Once you've completed emptying out your wallet, prepare next sessions buttercream frosting. 3 cups for practice decorating and then as much frosting as you need for your cake to be iced (4.5 cups)!!! That's a butt-load of frosting... now I have to go out and buy a ton of icing sugar, shortening and work on my biceps :P

3. Prepare the candy plaques for my character cake... using only the finest Callebaut chocolate. I seriously hate those candy melt things, even the dark chocolate ones seem to go lumpy on me... even though I make sure all my equipment is dry!!! Callebaut chocolate seems to be the only kind that likes me, even the white chocolate :)

4. Cover a cake-board with fanci-foil (or just regular foil paper) and place it in the caddy.

5. Make and bake your cake... let it cool and stare at it in awe because you're more than half-way done your homework! Then place it on the cake-board and cover in the caddy.

6. Drag all your stuff to class... the cake, your decorating equipment, the icing, your workbook and DON'T FORGET THE CAMERA!!!

7. Finally, decorate your beautiful cake (make sure it's done beautifully!) and be sure to take extra caution in transporting it home. Otherwise, your efforts will have been futile... those are the worst kind!

NO PRESSURE!

Good thing Father's day is coming up! Otherwise I'm not sure what occasion I would use this cake for. And with all the effort I'm putting into making it, it sure better be eaten... and enjoyed!

Although we're totally stressed about the homework, you wouldn't know it because we're crazy like that. Rule #1... never let people see how "pee-your-pants" worried you are!