Wilton Class #2 -- SpongeBob Birthday Cake!

Okay so because I jumped the gun and made my cake in advance, I didn't want to do the same cake in class. So what I decided to do was make a cake for my little nephew Andrew's birthday. He was turning the big 5, which is my favorite number. For his birthday my family was taking him to Disneyland. WARNING: It is ridiculously expensive to go to Disneyland. Due to the high ticket prices and my low cash flow I decide my gift would be his birthday cake.

In class, after being lectured about having our piping bags prepared before class, we frosted our cakes that we prepared at home. I was slightly scolded for not have an angled spatula to ice my cake. Hey what can I say, I learning on a budget. I can't seem to find a angled spatula for under $8 anywhere. The instructor is right, it does make a lot of difference using the angled spatula (keeps your fingers out of your frosting). I'll just have to be extra careful in the meantime.We also spent a lot of time practicing what we learned the week before; pressure control.

My class is very entertaining. You should see the array of personalities in my class. There is always that one person in every class you wonder, "Why are they taking this class?" My class has one of each; the over and under achiever.  My two favs are a Jamaican lady and her daughter; who happens to be the same age as me. She doesn't know it yet but I'm going to invite myself over to pick her Caribbean brain. I love Caribbean cuisines, I call myself trying to learn it.

The class all made wonderful birthday cakes. I made a cake with Spongebob Square Pants' face on it. I made the pattern myself. I, pretty much, did all stars for everything.My nephew loves Spongebob, and has a little gap like him too. Simply awesome is what it is!

My uncle John was having a birthday so I made him a cake too to get some more practice. I obviously need some practice on my lettering skills; HAPPY BIRTHDAY. LOL. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the strawberry filling I made for the middle of this cake. (pooty lip).

I'm having a lot of fun learning and practicing these skills. I also want to say how much I respect my instructor. She is very knowledgeable and takes this course seriously. I appreciate that because it makes me want to learn that much more.

Wilton Decorating Basics Class #1

Oh joy! The day has finally arrived, my first cake decorating class. I was so excited to get my handles dirty in is buttercream. That was pretty much all we did actually. The instructor taught use the Wilton Buttercream recipe. We also learned the 3 keys to cake decorating: pressure control, icing consistency, and bag positioning. We practiced this on our flat cookies that we brought with us. I made some chocolate cookies. Many of the other ladies brought store bought, but I had to make mine because I wanted to practice my baking skills.

The majority of the first class spent learning about the many different products that Wilton had to offer us on our journey to becoming cake decorators. LOL. We observed the instructor as she made the Wilton Buttercream and taught about the different consistencies of icing and how they are to be used.

By the end of the class I was eager to rush home and start making cakes. The last ten minutes or so the instructor went over what to bring and what we'd learn in the next class. Also within that ten minutes she leveled, filled, iced and decorated the cake that you see below.

I was so inspired by her speed and skill that I was determined to practice and recreate the cake before the next week's class. I couldn't help myself, I'm a little competitive and I had to make sure my cake was on point when I decorate my cake in class for the instructor.

What do you think? Pretty good, if I do say so myself. My first decorated cake.

One thing I will say, is that the buttercream I made at home looks nothing like the kind in the store bought container; however, I found that it did taste better although a little greasy. I like the idea of making my own buttercream, I can control how sweet I want it. I plan to work on my own buttercream recipe.