Fondant Class

For the last 3 1/2 weeks I've been taking a weekly Wilton fondant class at Michaels and I can't even say how much fun it was. It really surprised me how much I liked it. I enjoyed the first course too, which is a prerequisite for doing the fondant course, but it involved a lot of piping and mixing different consistencies of icing. Working with fondant was a lot more tactile; at times it reminded me of working with clay or sculpture.

The first three weeks of the course covered a lot of flower-making. We made all kinds of pretty flowers: daisies, roses, calla lilies, carnations and mums. We also made a large bow, like what you'd see on a birthday present and covered a cake board in fondant.


For the final class, we learned how to cover an entire cake with fondant. I really wanted to take advantage of having a Wilton teacher present so I brought in a square cake which is slightly more difficult to cover than a round cake. It ended up not being as hard as I thought it would be. After rolling out the fondant and flipping it on to the cake, I had to start with the corners of the cake (not the sides). And then trim along the bottom.

It's amazing what a coat of fondant will do to a cake! I wish I had taken a photo of before and after. My cake had had a little accident before the class so it was a little lopsided, plus the butter cream icing was starting to melt (not to mention that I hadn't smoothed out the butter cream icing very well and in some places it wasn't thick enough). Throwing on a coat of fondant made it look so smooth and pretty!

Here it is after decorating!




Some final thoughts after the course... I would never put a cake directly on to a fondant covered cake board again. It sucked all the moisture out of the bottom layer of my cake. Also, if I ever do a ball border again, I would prep the balls ahead of time. It took 45 minutes to get all of that border done and then I ran out of time to finish my flowers.

Cake Decorating

For the last two weeks, I have been taking a Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michaels. It was really fun and I'm glad that I did it together with my good friend Melissa.

For our last class, we had to bring in a cake to decorate. My friend, Megan, had just recently shared a recipe with me for a Mocha Coffee Cake and I'm so glad I made it. That recipe is delicious!!! I shouldn't be surprised really; Megan got it from her mom, who used to be a home economics teacher. She has all the good recipes!

Anyhow, we learned how to make roses and lettering in our last class and then we spent the remainder of the class decorating the cakes we had brought. I decorated mine with roses, star flowers, daisies, and a scallop edge. I must say, I am quite proud of my little creation. Sure, it's no Ace of Cakes, but I'm quite pleased!