Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Class: Cake Decorating Basics (class #2)


Isn’t this such an awesome cake?  Would you believe it if I told you it was made entirely from scratch by Piggy KL?!  Yes its possible because the Piggys are back in [cake] school and getting our learn on again! 
On an early Saturday morning, two sleepy Piggys dragged themselves to their second class of cake school at the NY Cake Academy (if you haven't had a chance to flip through our recap of class #1, you can check it out here).  There may have been some grumps and moans (*ahem Piggy KL*) but once we got settled into our seats the excitement for the day’s lesson turned us into eager students!

Step 1: Prep for class
Class #2 focused on how to ice and decorate a cake.  We had to come to class armed with our Student Kits, icing, and a pre-baked cake ready to go.  Sadly, this was apparently the most challenging part as my cake came out flat as a pancake and Piggy KL’s had a crater in the middle oyy. 
 
Piggy KL's ready-to-go cake - she flipped it over so that the crater was hidden on the bottom.  Smart girl!

The instructor also suggested that we bring along a turntable and any other tools that we were interested in learning how to use (special icing tips, long angled spatulas, cake levelers, etc).  Of course that meant us eager Piggys went out and invested in these tools to bring along!  As Piggy KL mentioned in our recap of class #1, there was no pressure to buy anything if you didn’t have – we were also free to borrow turntables and other tools from the school if needed. 
Step #2: Ice the cake
With our cakes out and spatulas at the ready, we proceeded to learn two methods of how to ice a cake with no crumbs visible (more challenging than it seems!). 
Getting ready to ice!

But first, a little demo from the instructor

Using our turntables and hothothot water, we learned the secrets of how to spread the icing evenly and create a perfectly smooth cake.  This step was definitely time-consuming and at times completely frustrating, but with a little patience we were rewarded with sleek and (nearly) flawless looking cakes!

My iced [pancake] cake - do not be fooled by the picture.
I probably have an inch worth of frosting on top as I desperately tried to make up for its lack of height

Step 3: Decorate
Now that our canvas was ready, the Piggys got the green light for the best part of the class: decorating!  Using parchment paper and gel tubes, we transferred a pattern to put onto our cakes.  I picked a cupcake pattern and Piggy KL created her own pattern based off the “Fabulous Las Vegas” sign!  Our piping skills from class #1 came into play at this point as we proceeded to fill in our decorating patterns and create borders around our cakes (good thing I practiced between classes!). 

Cupcake pattern transferred to my cake

Piggy KL decorating her cake

Step 4: Enjoy the cake!
And voila!  Just like shameless Piggy mommas, here we are proudly showing off our finished cake babies! 
My cupcake cake

Piggy KL's Vegas themed cake

Step 5: Repeat!
Piggy KL and I enjoyed what we learned in class so much that we both made cakes for our coworkers the following week!

My attempt at a Halloween/spider web themed cake with strawberry filling (mid-massacre by colleagues....) 
 
Piggy KL's cake for a colleague's birthday

And with only one class remaining, the Piggys eagerly await what we’ll learn next!  Stayed tuned as Piggy KL will report back on class #3…

Thanks for reading – Piggy KK


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