Cake Decorating 101

About a month or so ago I attended a Relief Society Meeting. The theme of the night was service. We all came with a service to share which we had wrapped like a present. Then we each chose a number. When our number was up we got to choose a present to find out what service we had received or we could choose a service that someone else had opened. On my turn I chose to take a service someone else had already opened. I know what you are thinking, Brooke stole a service? Well, I can redeem myself. I really wanted the service, but I also knew that the service stated that it would be for two to three people. So I decided that I would invite the person who perviously had the service to do it with me (plus she would be able to pick another service - thus giving her two!). Am I redeeming myself a little? Anyway, the service I got was for a cake decorating lesson. The lady who was teaching the lesson used to work at a country club making wedding cakes.

It took almost a month before we could find a time when everyone could get together. It ended up that four ladies attended the class. Last week we finally got together for our class. It was so much fun! Our instructor brought over four mini cakes for us to decorate. When she brought them in Devon mentioned that they looked like marshmallows! It is funny to see inside the mind of a little guy now and then!

We started off by learning how to use several different decorating tips. We started off pretty simple and we all felt good about how we were doing. Then we were taught how to make a rose. I was very excited to try. I have always wanted to learn how to make a rose. Our instructor went through the steps. She made it look easy. Well it wasn't exactly as easy at it looked. It took a couple of times for me to get something that looked like a rose. When we started decorating our little cakes we added more powdered sugar to the frosting to thicken it up a bit. After changing the consistency our roses turned out much better. I was pretty excited when I completed a rose that actually looked like a rose! I was so thrilled that I had done it and then I realized that I had to move the rose from the nail head to the cake. The first one I moved went really well. The second one - not so much. It fell over and got crushed. After I made a third rose my instructor quickly came over and moved it for me. She didn't want me to have to start all over again! She was really cute and thoughtful!

Everyone did a great job on their cakes. It was fun to see how everyone decided to decorate their cake. We decided on the colors we wanted to share and then we all went to work. I was a little hesitant to start working on my cake. I didn't want to make any mistakes. The other ladies were more confident and quickly decided to try out what they had learned. I was impressed with all of their cakes. It was fun to decorate and learn together. We had fun socializing and getting to know each other better as we entered new territory together.

Another thing I have always wanted to learn is how to do a basket weave design. I practiced it a couple of times on a cookie sheet, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it on my cake. After taking a while to decide, my instructor told me to give it a try (she could tell I really wanted to try). I am glad she encouraged me to go ahead and do it, I only wish I would have started a little sooner. By the end I was rushing to finish. I found the basket to be fairly easy once you get the routine down. The hard part is keeping the lines straight and without any white space. It also takes a while to go around the whole cake. As I approached the end of the end of the basket weave I realized I had no idea if the beginning and the end would match up. I think I probably could have added another column, but I was able to make it work. There is so much to think about when you decorate. Our instructor told us that you should frost (and decorate) the cake on the sides first and then finish with the top. That way you can use your had to secure the top while working on the sides. Oddly enough all four of us started on the top first! I think we were all excited to try putting our roses on the top of our cakes. By the end I think we all realized the wisdom in the advise we had been given at the beginning. Hopefully we will take that with us as we decorate future cakes!

One of the fun parts of the class was sharing our cakes with our families. My boys are really good at complimenting new things I try. When the class was about to finish some of the boys came into the kitchen to see how I was doing. I was frantically trying to finish the basket weave. Kaden came over and told me I was doing a good job and he took it upon himself to coach me until I finished. He kept telling me that I was almost there and that I was going to finish in time! I think he is the reason I was able to go quickly enough to finish. Thanks bud!!

The class was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with some wonderful ladies. Our instructor is a lady in our ward that I didn't know very well. It was really fun to get to know her better. She is a wonderful lady and I appreciate her sharing her talent with us. She was so sweet that she even made all the kids cupcakes. The kids were in heaven!