Gum Paste & Fondant Class Complete

I finished my third cake course - Gum Paste & Fondant. This class was more about gum paste flowers than anything else, but we did get to work with fondant a bit the last two classes. We covered a cake board in fondant. Then covered our final cake in fondant and the gum paste flowers of our choice. I went with a spring motif with some cute double layer daisies.

Unfortunately, there are no more Wilton cake classes for me to take. There will be a 3 hour workshop on tall tiered cakes later this month. I will definitely be taking that one. I feel like I will go in withdrawal if I don't. Taking these classes has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much and feel so much more confident baking and decorating. I will be sure to post my creations, as I will be continuing to bake up a storm in the future.

Flowers & Cake Design Class Complete

I know I keep saying it, but I am loving 20II. I completed another cake class this week - Wilton's Flowers & Cake Design. The last class was pretty fun. We brought in an iced 8 inch cake and any royal icing flowers we made. Then we learned a couple border techniques and were told to decorate. My finished cake turned out pretty good.

I was a little disappointed with my final cake though. I made 25 lilies to arrange on the cake. However, since it was very humid and rainy outside, the flowers did not hold up. When you tried to handle the flowers and move them to the cake, they would crack or fall apart. I managed to get five on there; however one or two were a little cracked in the center.

I finish class three on Thursday - Fondant & Gum Paste. I have made a few dozen daisies in different sizes to put on that cake. It should turn out to be a cute celebration of spring. I will be sure to post some photos.

Fondant & Gum Paste Class - Week 3

Fondant and gum paste class was a little lackluster this week. We worked on two more flowers - Daisies and Mums.

We also started preparing for our final class project - a 8 inch double stacked cake. We will be covering this cake in fondant and then covering it in the gum paste flower creations of our choice. So before we left class, we covered our cake board in fondant. I chose a lovely shade of light blue. I actually ended up dying my hands blue while tinting the fondant, but I was able to take some nail polish remover and cure my Smurf problem. I also played around with an imprint mat, which allows you to put designs into the fondant. 

Since I ended up putting a daisy imprint on the cake board, I think I am going to stick with the daisy theme for the cake. Sure the flowers are really simple to make, but I think a cake covered in blue fondant with a nice assortment of daisies could end up looking real nice. Plus, it's just for class and then I will probably give it away. 

Fondant & Gum Paste Class - Week 2

As I mentioned in a previous post, week one of fondant & gum paste class was pretty boring. We just made bases for flowers. And when I say bases, I mean balls of gum paste in various shapes stuck to pieces of spaghetti. Nothing to write home about. But week two, we took those bases and created beautiful flowers. They look so real.

Roses

Calla Lilies and Carnations

The great thing about these flowers are they can last for years. The gum paste dries hard. You just have to worry about dust build-up if you use them for a cake display or something like that.

I am looking forward to my next class. We will be making a couple more flowers and then playing with fondant. More photos and posts to come.

Cake Decorating Courses 2 and 3

This week, I started two new cake decorating courses: Flowers & Cake Design and Fondant & Gum Paste. The first week of class is usually pretty boring. You're told what you will be doing in class and learn a couple small things.

For example, in Flowers & Cake Design class we worked with gum paste. It will be the only time we work with gum paste in that class. The rest of the flowers will be made with royal icing. Our gum paste creations were the button flower and pansies. By the way, gum paste is not too tasty and dries hard as a rock. So it really is just for decoration.

The first day of Fondant & Gum Paste class was all about prep. We used gum paste to make bases for the roses, mums and carnations we will be creating next week in class. You actually build the bases on uncooked spaghetti and use that stick and secure the flowers into the case. Who knew? I will post pictures of the flowers once they are finished next week.