Roses all Around

This week was the time to tackle roses. Ha! This week was more like the week that we barely finished our cakes because we trashed the first fifty flowers. I figured roses would be hard, but not as hard as they actually were. Oh and the way they teach now....NOT easier. Well before I go on, here is the final picture of Wilton Level 1.

Ok, now I'm not sure what you think about the photo, the detail didn't come out all that well. But I learned something else this week; lack of AC is not conducive to beautiful roses. I did have some nice looking roses, but they sat too long off the cake and when I attempted to move them on to the cake they ended up looking like, well a deformed eye with many many layers. I'll attempt pictures throughout the classes in the future for further enjoyment.

So next week we have a break, but then comes the flowers, lots and lots of flowers! I'll be sure to post a bunch of pictures of the different types of flowers.

So until then, Happy Cooking!

Orders will be taken on a first come, first serve basis :) Haha!

Thank You Nursing Assistants

So this past week was National CNA Appreciation Week and to end off the very rough week at work we decided that a Pig Pickin' may brighten some spirits, if today didn't help with that at all :)

Well I decided I wanted a little more practice with my newly learned skills and bought an iced sheet cake to decorate. I've decided that I don't particularly like sheet cakes. Too much white space to cover. So it's not as bold as some of the others, and is by no means my favorite cake, but here it is. My small thank you to all the CNAs out there who do the job I would hate to do everyday.

Half Way There!

Well this week cake decorating had its ups and downs. 1. The icing was so much easier to do this time 2. The cake looked so much better when I iced it this time. No help needed from the instructor. Downside, I had two 11 days before the class. I was running late and a little too stressed out for it to be as fun. You be the judge though on the cake. I think it turned out great for the week I've been having, but it's not my favorite. Not my first. Well next week is the grand finale cake and I'm really excited about that and roses. Hopefully next week I won't work a full 11 hours before class and have to run to car :)

Well here ya go,

This week was a fish cake. We were learning how to do puffy style designs. Last week it was dainty and exact and this week it  was all about big puffy forms. Still need some work though. My perfectionism is popping out at all the wrong times. :)

Happy Cooking! Check back next Wednesday to see the final installment of Buttercream Frosting.

The First One!

You know the first one might always be my favorite, but we'll see next week when I get to decorate the second one. All I know now is that I am addicted and I want to decorate everything in sight! My whoops from the other day with the butter flavored Crisco, turned out to be a very good thing! My pale yellow cake was topped with light purple drop flowers and pale green leaves of two varieties.

And no, the spoon is not what I promptly ate the cake with. The one bad thing about cake decorating, what am I going to do with all the cake???

Happy Cooking! Check back next week for more photos :)

Buttercream Icing

So I had a new experience today, well two. It started out right, but in the end it turned out to be a delicious mess. I had my first attempt at Buttercream Icing today, that wasn't the disaster (which I was sure it was going to be). So do not fear the buttercream, it is much easier to make than imagined :) Note to self though, DO NOT use butter flavored Crisco unless you want yellow icing! Now it is a great shade of yellow and I will be making it work! This week and next; maybe I shouldn't buy items on sale. I get excited about the sale and forget to look closely at the label.

Anyways, here is the recipe:

1 c Crisco, make sure you use Crisco not off brands
4 Tbsp water
2 tsp extract, your favorite kind (I used Lemon tonight to match the yellow Crisco, and it turned out great)
3 Tbsp Meringue Powder
1lb Confectioner's sugar, or 4 c

Blend all ingredients until smooth enough to ice but not as smooth as store bought icing. The spatula should slowly fall when stood up in icing. This was the only tricky part. If too stiff add water, if too loose add sugar. It's an experiment each day. I had to use less sugar and more water tonight.

So I'm taking a series of cake decorating courses over the summer and I'll be sure to post pictures with other types, tricks, and stories! Happy Cooking, or in this case Baking!