Saturday, November 22, 2008

My very first cake

I want to make Logan's first birthday cake, and I want it to be good...Ace of Cakes good. So, I signed up for a cake decorating class.

I've been to my first class and have a homework assignment: bring one 8-inch iced cake to class next week. I buy one of each flavor Duncan-Hines has to offer and go to work. I decided to make one earlier in the week to practice, just so I'm not the only one in the class with a horrific "first-time" cake.

During our first class, we had the chance to purchase our Course 1 kit and shop for other nifty items Wilton has available. I chose not to buy the beginner kit, I needed the 101 piece Professional Decorating Set with tool caddy. It's serious business now, baby!

While my first cake was in the oven, I realize this is probably my very first cake I've ever made, much less decorated. I was using a 3" deep pan, so my baking times were a little off. My toothpick finally came out clean and I removed my cake from the oven and promptly turned it out onto my wire rack. (For those of you gasping in horror, I now know that you have to let it cool before you dump it from the pan.) And yes, half of my cake came out and the other half stayed in the pan. Call mom, find out I need to let it cool next time, and start the mixer again for my next try. Good thing I have extra cake mixes.

This time, I let the cake cool. Gee, that works much better. Now for the icing. Our instructor told us about a cleaver crumb coating made of confectioners sugar, water, and lemon extract. It looks like a glaze and takes a few hours to dry. I made my first batch of icing and grab my spatula. The icing immediately grabs the glaze and cake in one sweep! Now what's the matter? My icing is too stiff. I iced the cake as best I could, crumbs and all. I even played with my icing colors to do some decorating. I used a pineapple cake, so I decorated the top for Robert.






See, good thing this one is just practice and I'll use what I've learned for the one I actually have to bring to class.

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