It's been awhile....

Since I've stopped taking any classes I don't really have the chance to make any cakes. I did made some cupcakes (for the first time). I didn't know how far you are suppose fill up the pan....needless to say I should of left some room for the cupcakes to rise. I have to slice some of the top off to decorate the cupcake. It was a last minute thing I did for a get together with friends. I'm just glad I still remember how to squeeze that buttercream. :p

Power of Photography

All my cake photos are taken with a phone cam. However, I really like the double tier cake I made that I made an extra effort to have my friend (an awesome photographer) to photograph it with his fancy doozy digital camera. The result is like night and day. You can see details and I even use a close up shot of the cake for the header of this blog.

Front and Back View of cake.

Back to Buttercream

It's been awhile since I use a piping bag. It's interesting how much I like using that in the begining but now I don't like it as much after using fondant and gum pate. It's (fondant and gum paste) less messy and easier to control.

As usual I love to 'recycle' I still have plenty of left over flowers from previous cakes. It's amazing how much a flower can improve the look of a cake!

Flavor: Rasberry
My mother is going to bring it to her painting class.

Last Class: Wilton Fondant and Gum Paste

I really like using the gum paste. However, it seem rather brittle. I wonder if it's because I made the gum paste from scratch instead of buying it already made. For example, the daisey's petal tend to fall off, but it's a lot easier to make daisey with gum paste than with a pastry bag (royal icing). Flavor: yellow cake (different cake mix, not the big name brand and not as good....should stick with Duncan Hines).

I had no idea how should I decorate the cake but I applied the new things we learned in class today to the cake (like the border and the box on top of the cake).

It was rather sad this would be my last class I am taking for cake decorating. I've taken all the classes offered by Wilton at Michaels. Maybe in the future I might take other classes somewhere else but for now I don't plan to take anymore.

P.S. I drop off this cake to my friend who is an excellent baker. She thought it looks like baby shower sort of cake.......hint, hint my friend. :p

Wilton III Course

Final Project
Two tiers.
Fondant Cake
Royal Icing Flowers and Fondant Roses
Flavor: White and Yellow
Fate? Since no one is getting married (that I know) .....it's going to my family's Fourth of July cake! :p

Wilton II Course

Final project for Wilton II course.
Buttercream Basketweave
Royal Icing Flowers
Flavor: White Cake
The fate of the cake? It was given to a friend's birthday on Wed.
Talk about great timing!

100+ Flowers

I made over 100+ of royal icing flowers for the two final cakes for the Wilton course II and III class. Some flowers were brittle and fall apart and some stayed hard as rock.

My First Fondant Roses

I made some fondant roses for our last class Wilton Course III (coming Sat). It's going to be for a tiered cake. I am rather excited. I've been baking a lot of cakes and I am going to make up for the last class I missed for Wilton Course II as well. That means I would be bringing a lot of cakes to class. There are a lot of prepatory work (ice the cake, make fondant, royal icing, buttercream, various decorative flowers, ect.).

The fondant roses took the most work and time. Originally the fondant roses looked awful. They looked like golf balls, but after a little bit persistence and practice, I finally figure it out. See for yourself if they looked like roses!

Father's Day Cake

I love recycling. I gave the cake I made from class to my father for Father's day. The problem with 'recycling' is that everyone I know including the men gets these really feminine cakes. No one complained but I did ask my brother if he enjoyed receiving a cake covered in pink delicate buttercream flowers? He said, "Well, it was pretty. Isn't all cakes kind of feminine anyways?"

My father was no exception to getting a pink and frilly cake from me. In fact, I didn't like the bow design we made in class that I changed it to a cluster of flowers instead. Nothing but the best frill for my father! :p

P.S. The flavor was pineapple.

First Fondant Cake

I had continued from Wilton II cake decorating class and signed up for Wilton III cake decorating class. It's week two and I made my first fondant cake in class.

I made my fondant from scratch instead of buying a premade package. Big price difference but it was rather messy to make my fondant and I almost broke my mixer. There were smoke coming out of the machine. I hope the mixer isn't damaged. *sigh* At least I figure out what my mistakes were.

1. I used the wrong mixer attachment. I didn't realize the hook like attachment was a dough mixer.

2. I forgot to add water to keep it from drying out and it was getting too stiff for the mixer.

To be safe next time I better use my hands.

We had to baked the cake for class. The baking experience was a lot smoother than I expected. I used my brother's gas oven. The cakes baked so much better than my toaster oven. It really makes a difference when you use the right equiment! Then I discover it makes a difference when you cool the cake in the refrig. for at a day before you frost it. It was a lot firmer to frost and barely any crumbs and the cake didn't fall apart!

In class we finished decorating the cake. I liked using the fondant more than I expected. The problem with the Wilton classes are that everyone makes the exact same thing. There are not a whole lot of originality or creative process. I don't really like the design we had to make in class.

No More Mixing by Hands

I am happy to say that I got myself a bargain today.
I bought a used KitchenAid stand mixer for only $75 that normally would retail close to $300.

I talked to my mother. My brother delivered the cake to her in one piece. She loved her mother's day cake. She thought it looked pretty and it tasted great but the structure of the cake was questionable.....I told her I've been baking with a toaster oven that's why. :p

Mother's Day Cake

I baked a Mother's Day cake last night in addition to my brother's birthday cake. This is what happens when you baked in a toaster oven. You get to divide up the batter to multiple cakes.
For some reason the tiny 5" round cake turned out better than my brother's birthday cake....smaller surface, easier to handle. I didn't have too much crumb problem. The cake looked really pristine and I didn't have to overdecorated to cover up imperfection of the baking problems. I am actually satisfy with this cake.

P.S. It was orange flavored.

Second Cake

My brother's birthday is today. I baked another cake last night and decorated this morning. Beside learning all sorts of thing on baking, it make things tougher to bake things on a toaster oven (and I need to get a stand mixer, too). It takes longer to bake and it doesn't bake evenly. My cakes don't hold up very well for decorating. They kind of fall apart.

I mixed different materials for icing....bad idea. For example, the royal icing slips off the mousse.

Overall....my brother's birthday cake turned out uneven, barely holding it together with lots of mousse, crumbs, crumbs, crumbs (but I am getting better at creating less crumbs).

P.S. It was orange flavor cake.

First Birthday Cake

After last night's baking fiasco, I managed to get up early in the morning to decorate my two successful batch of cakes. I layered it on top of each other. It didn't go as smoothly as I expected. I made a big mess on frosting the cake....crumbs everywhere! I really need practice in making pristine cake.

I tried food coloring for the first time. I can say at least I had color under control. Flying by the seat of my pants, I didn't have time to practice the decorative techniques I learned. I just start eyeballing the cake and blob things on...luckily the design of the cake turned out okay. I ran out of space to write "Happy Birthday" The roses got squished in the transport and I need practice, practice, practice.....coz the cake was rather sloppy looking.


P.S. It was plain vanilla yellow cake.

Baking with Toaster Oven

A friend's birthday was coming up and I thought I can put my new found skills to use. I tried to make my first birthday cake. It actually would help if I have a working oven but I don't so I am restricted to baking on my toaster oven. I doesn't help when I have no baking experience either. It's truly a big experiment for me.

Luckily I found pans that were small enough to fit into the toaster oven and I have to divide up the cake batter into small portions to bake. I figure I am going to take baby step and tried baking with a cake mix first. The first cake overflowed and was burned on top and totally uncooked in the middle.

Thank gaaaaad the last two and third tried turned out okay. Btw, the picture is the disaster....notice the volcano in the middle. :p

Making Icing with Blender

For the month of May I signed up Wilton cake decorating courses at Michael. They have 40% off the classes. I thought it was a good deal and signed up for class every Sat afternoon. Since my previous class from Carol I thought I can skip Wilton Course 1 and sign up with Wilton Course 2 and 3 instead. It's a little bit loopy I am taking two courses but they are taught one after another and I can save time this way.....so I thought.

I am beginning to find out cake decorating is going to be an expensive hobby. Supplies and materials adds up. We had to buy a lot of stuff.

For the first class we had to bring in our icing. I am beginning to appreciate Carol a little more now that I realize how much work it is to make the icing. It was a total disaster for me. I didn't have a mixer. I tried mixing with blender. Let me tell you folks, blender doesn't make icing. It only crushes ice. :p

I had to run out and buy a mixer after I made a big mess in my kitchen. I drove back home and managed to get my icing made in time for the first class. However, when I showed up for the class our instructor Sandy was concerned I didn't take course 1 and signed up for course 2 or 3. I told her I took another class that's similar to Wilton course 1 and I'm rather enthusiastic on tackling course 2 and 3 at the same time.

Then Sandy informed me that course 3 had been changed to next month. As I looked around the class, I notice other students were grinning at me. I wonder if they were grinning because I was trying to be tackle 2 and 3 at the same time (I know....over kill) or I had frosting stuck to my hair and powder sugar down my shirt. Geesh.... I had a messy morning!

First Decorated Cupcake

For the last class in April, Carol had us bring in cupcakes to decorate. Since I don't bake, I went out and brought cupcakes from the supermarket instead. It was amazing how different everyone decorated their cupcakes. I notice most people do tiny decorations on their cupcakes that you barely noticed. Surprisingly no roses. I, on the other hand, boldly piled on my icing on the cupcakes, not with just one rose but sometimes as many as three! Yes, I have no shame. :p

First Rose

After that one night on cake making, I couldn't stop thinking about squeezing that buttercream again. As I was browsing for a new class to take at a community college on 3D Max some how I stumble upon a cake decorating class instead. The thought about taking a cake decorating class thrilled me more than learning about 3D graphics. I signed up for the cake decorating class instead. The class is every Tu. night for 4 weeks in April.

The first week our instructor Carol baked a cake for us to frost. I made a big mess. There were speckles of crumbs all over my cake while the other student's cake looked pristine, but I didn't give up. I continue with the class.

Carol taught us the Wilton methods because that was how she was taught. We learned how to make different types of borders and patterns with different tips. We practice with only the buttercream she made on practice boards. It was like painting. I love it.

The most exciting night was when we learned how to make the Wilton rose. Everyone in class was taking picture of their roses with their cell phone.....and so did I!

Things Happen for a Reason

It's ironic after graduating from school I rewarded myself with more school. On a whim, I drove by a local culinary shop and inquired about their cooking classes. They had a 'Basic Cake Making and Decorating' class the next night taught by Chef Kris O'Leary (a graduate of California Culinary Academey in San Francisco). Having no prior baking experience (or interests in baking) and a broken stove that haven't been replaced in years, I thought it was an awesome idea to take the class.

The night of the class, I was just happy I didn't have to do much except waiting to be feed. As one cake was baked after another and the buttercream was made, Chef Kris prepared us to decorate the cakes. As I have my buttercream stuffed in a pastry bag and experimented with different tips, I felt a rush of excitement. I squeeze that bag of buttercream like I was born with it. Gaaawd I could do this everyday I thought. I looked around and no one seems to be as excited. I think it was getting late and everyone was more interested in eating.

The woman that shared a cake with me (to decorate the cake) was looking at me with a grin. She was amused I was so happy and excited about the whole decorating process. We weren't given any instructions on how to decorate but I was having a blast just experimenting with different tips. I ended up bossing the poor woman that had the misfortune to share a cake with me on how we should decorate our cake. The nice woman took it in stride and smiled at me good naturally as we decorated our cake.

That night I found out I am hooked on squeezing buttercreams.