White Cake with Raspberry Filling - My First Time with Fondant

Raspberry Filling = Fzn Raspberries + Cornstarch + Sugar

You can't even tell that my icing barrier was too thin, and raspberry filling broke through and ran down the side of the cake! I really thought my icing was going to turn out red!

YUMM-O!

Course 1 Overview

Ok, so since I had the genius idea of starting a blog the day after my first decorating course ended, I thought I'd do a quick overview of how things went.  A couple of things I learned: 1. ALWAYS wear an apron! Whether it's baking, making the icing, or decorating I always seem to make the biggest messes! My dog ends up with powdered sugar all over her nose EVERY TIME, and I always seem to leave class with pink icing streaks in my hair. How does this happen? I have no idea, but it's guaranteed every time.  2.  In cake decorating (especially with flowers) there are never any mistakes.  Whenever you think you made a mistake, just stick a leaf there and no one will ever know! ;)

The One That Started It All! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the cake from my very first cake decorating class.  Can you tell we had only learned 4 techniques? There is the star, the dot, the oblong design and the squiggle.  Needless to say, I got a little carried away.  This cake was basic yellow cake with buttercream frosting.  Nothing fancy.  This was also my first attempt at "leveling" and "torting".  I think there was a big chunk missing from the middle.  Oh, and crumbs are everywhere. 

This was only my second cake, and already I feel that I'm getting much better.  The design itself is still pretty busy, but not bad! :) This design was stenciled onto wax paper and then using a "piping gel transfer" was put onto the cake, allowing me to just fill in the lines with icing.  Sort of like coloring.  Basically, it makes me look a lot better than I am! The cake was a white cake this time, with a raspberry filling.  One thing I learned, you can't just put raspberry jam in the middle of a cake.  It did not taste very good. EEK! Oh, and there were crumbs that got into the icing.  I guess you could say, that although this cake looks alright, it was still pretty....crumby! Hahahaha! I'm funny. 

This was my final cake design of course 1! Note how I learned to tone down on the busy-ness of the design! ;) I have to say, this is my absolute favorite! I'm especially proud of my roses.  This cake is made up of 2-8x2 in round cakes, chocolate, with a layer of vanilla buttercream in the middle! I used chocolate frosting this time, so that those darn crumbs that always show up, won't! It even tastes as good as it looks, if I do say so myself...which I will.  It's my blog, so I'll say what I want! ;) Professional cake decorators are somehow able to make the buttercream icing streakless, so it almost looks like the cake is covered in fondant.  I obviously haven't learned how they do that yet, but you can be sure that I'm definitely trying!

Lastly, my project today was cupcakes.  I had all this leftover icing from Monday's class, so I decided to use it up.  I made yellow cupcakes, and using a filling tip, I filled them with vanilla buttercream.  It reminded me a lot of twinkies, which I like.  I then covered them with the same chocolate frosting that I used on the cake above and decorated them with different flower techniques. 

That's all for now.  Course 2 starts on Monday, so stay tuned for adventures in Flowers and Cake Design!

Getting Started...

In the last month or so, I have known at least 5 people who have started blogging.  Add that to the number of people I knew that ALREADY blogged, and you have a pretty decent number.  This got me thinking, "maybe I should start a blog", but let's face it, I'm not that interesting.  I don't really do anything other than go to work, come home, take care of my "kids" and enjoy time with my fiance.  It's a really simple life, but it's all mine, and I enjoy it thoroughly.  I don't really have any hobbies.  As a matter of fact, my fiance says that my hobby is finding different hobbies. 

There was the time I took up cross-stitching, and then there was knitting, and now there is cake decorating! It's not that I didn't love cross stitching or knitting, I really did enjoy them, I just find myself always getting interested in something else.  As a matter of fact, that's how I found my newest hobby: cake decorating.  I was browsing my instant netflix one day, while I was trying to learn how to complete a 'purl' stitch, and came upon the show, 'Cake Boss'.  Before I knew it--I was hooked (and I still can't purl)! I loved it.  His cakes were beautiful pieces of artwork, and the looks of awe that became the customers was so heart warming.  Not too soon after I fell in love with Cake Boss, I found myself signing up for 'Cake Decorating Basics' at my local Michaels. 

At first, I was a bit skeptical.  I truly am the definition of an Undomesticated Goddess.  I have burned everything from chicken to cookies to water (trust me, it's not that difficult-the water evaporates, there's a lot of steam and the fire alarms start to blare!).  As a matter of fact, my dogs no longer jump when the fire alarms go off--they've become THAT accustomed to it.  The only cakes I have ever baked were with the help of Betty Crocker and forget about decorating a cake! I could never even ice it without accidentally cutting a huge chunk of cake out of the top.

Anyhow, to cut this story short: I indirectly found the subject of my blog.  Sort of like a 'Julie and Julia'-esq piece.  I am opening up my kitchen, and inviting you along on my cake decorating journey*.  Let's see if this Undomesticated Goddess can, in fact, find her inner Cake Boss. 





*This blog was started after my completion of Cake Decorating Basics.  I will be uploading pictures with short blurbs regarding my experience as I prepare for Course 2: Flowers and Cake Design!