Can Christmas come early this year?

I want this soooooooooooooo bad.....I'm talking really really really bad. But I'm going to have to sell a whole lotta cakes to afford it.

Wilton - Course 2 Class 4 - FINAL

This week was my final Course 2 class. I had to make 50 Primroses and 25 apple blossoms for my final cake, but I ended up running out of room on my cake so I didn't use them all. My instructor says they last for a really long time so I think I'll keep the rest of the flowers in case I need them in the future.

The cake is french vanilla with buttercream icing, pretty plain huh? I put vanilla baking chips in the cake batter to give it a little extra "oomph" and I think it turned out pretty yummy.

I also learned how to do the basketweave and rope border. Overall, it was a pretty fun class. But I'm REALLY looking forward to Course 3 where I learn how to work with fondant and tiered cakes!!

Wilton - Course 2 Class 3

More royal icing flowers this week. The reason they're all purple is because I was using left over icing from the previous class- I don't like to be wasteful!!

Daffodils
Pansies
Daisies
Roses

Wilton - Course 2 Class 2

I started Course 2 this month and I'm pretty excited. The first class was learning to do a couple of flowers with buttercream but they weren't all the pretty, so I didn't take pictures.

But the second class we made flowers with royal icing, which is way different to work with than buttercream. We made apple blossoms, violets, violet leaves and the primrose. Our final cake (class 4) will have 100 apple blossoms and primroses, so I better get really good at them!

Violet Leaves & Primroses
Violets
Apple Blossoms

Graduation Cake

In my last post, I mentioned that one of Jake's co-workers asked me to do a cake for her daughter's graduation party. It was a full sheet cake (my first ever), half vanilla and half chocolate, with buttercream icing. I haven't heard from Tannis how the party went, but I'm really hoping the cake was pretty and yummy enough for everyone. Here it is!!

Wilton - Course 1 Class 4 - FINAL

I had my final Course 1 class last night but before I left the store, I had already registered for Course 2 so you haven't heard the last of my cake decorating adventures.

My cake was an 8" round classic white cake with strawberry filling. The cake itself could have been a little more moist so I'll keep working on that. Also, I used two mixes; one for the top layer and one for the bottom layer so this thing was HUGE! Jake and Maddie had a piece when I got home and he took the rest to work today.

The roses looked a little better than last week but there's always room for improvement. And my drop flowers (on the bottom of the cake) were a disaster. Here's the result:

And I'm super excited to say that I have gotten my first business as a cake decorator!!! One of Jake's co-workers ordered a sheet cake for 50 ppl for her daugher's graduation party next weekend. WOOHOO!!! Maybe I have finally found something I can earn some extra income with (painting = fail, uppercase living = fail, so far).

Wilton - Course 1 Class 3

This week I learned the shell border and dots of various sizes. The cake was supposed to be a clown theme so I baked a funfetti cake by Pillsbury......HUGE MISTAKE!! I have concluded that Pillsbury mixes are terrible. Not only do they taste blah but I had the hardest time getting the dern thing out of my pan. So anyway, lesson learned; stick to Duncan Hines.

I used the colored icing from last week because I didn't want to waste it. So I grossly underestimated how much yellow icing I'd need for the clowns' bodies, thus I only have 1 clown. But I highly doubt I'll ever be making clowns again, I find them a little scary. Here's the result:

Then I learned how to make the "Wilton Rose"....can you say "intimidating?" This one is definitely going to take some practicing, that's for sure. But I really want to get good because next week's final cake is going to have 7 of them!!! The rose on the left was made by my instructor and the other was made by me;

I have some serious practicing to do.

Wilton - Course 1 Class 2

For Mother's Day I asked for something a little unconventional; a Wilton cake decorating class. It's a 4 week course in basic cake decorating techniques and tips. So far I've had 2 classes. The first class was going over what supplies I need and we watched the instructor make buttercream icing and how to ice a cake. Nothing too exciting. I already had this

so I was ready for the actual decorating part.

The second class was using the star tip. We had the choice of decorating a character cake or this;

Not bad for my first real try at cake decorating. I discovered that 1. icing a cake is NOT as easy as it seems and 2. using the star tip makes your hand hurt really bad. The actual cake was a lemon cake and it was very yummy. Again I sent most of it with Jake to work so we didn't have to eat it all. Especially since the next 2 classes, I'll be decorating cakes and bringing them home. Talk about lots of cake!!!